spiral:kingdom kitchen?
by ninjafairygirl
Summary: sorry about the title, i wasnt sure. so, roxas accidentally sends namine and himself to spiral's japan and axel and larxene to kitchen princess's japan. namine has to write a play, kiotaka meddles and axel has three stalkers. but no worries, right?
1. begining of a tale

Disclaimer: kingdom hearts, kitchen princess and spiral all don't belong to me, blah de blah de blah. Anywho, how is everyone? This is the latest of my schemes to get some new reviews, so enjoy!!

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Castle oblivion. In the upper chambers, Roxas and his friend Axel were thinking of something fun to do on a Friday night. Well, Roxas was anyway. Axel was too buys tossing a ball into the air.

"Hey, where'd Namine go? She usually hangs out with us." Roxas asked the flame haired teen.

"Oh, she's with Larxene. They're 'girl bonding' or something." Axel nonchalantly stated.

"What?! Larxene would destroy Namine, even if she were in a good mood! One word and she blows up!" Roxas argued.

"No prob. I gave her chocolate. Girls like that, right?" Axel said, slowly recognizing what he had just said.

You see, Larxene can be a bit…extreme, but she's practically an atomic bomb when given chocolate. A rough term most of the organization would use is 'drunk.' Roxas took off like a lighting bolt after the pale blonde.

Meanwhile, the girls were by the living room. Larxene was sitting on the couch, Namine walking towards the room. Larxene had just come back from taking her latest world, a place called Tomoeda to calm herself down. It was then she found the chocolate, left by Axel, 'with love' as it was written on the bar.

"Why would that candle give me chocolate when he knows how I react? Ah well, this could be fun." The blonde smirked and consumed the candy as our favorite art nobody walked into the living room. It only took a few seconds for the sugar to act.

"NAMINE!!!" Larxene cried, hugging the shocked girl.

"Larxene? What?" was all she could mutter before the crazed nobody shushed her and dragged her to the couch, where there were some cue cards waiting.

"So, I'm sure you're wondering what I've done with my morning, haven't you?" Larxene said with a smirk.

"Ahh…."

"Tut tut, Larxene is talking. You see, Axel said something to really _really _tick me off this morning. So, in order to calm myself down, I took over a puny world. The first one I got to. Turns out it was this charming little place called Tomoeda. There was a girl who tried to oppose me, but I quickly turned her and her little two friends into heartless. However, she was wearing an adorable outfit, so, after I turned her into a heartless, I stole it. The last words the boy shouted were something about thunder, and the girl holding a camera shouted a name, but I don't know. Aaaany who, here it is!" Larxene inhaled quickly, being that she had told her whole story in one breath.

"Why? And how much chocolate have you been eating today?" Namine cautiously asked, staring at the discarded cue cards Larxene had used during her explanations with crudely drawn pictures on them.

"Simple! To make Roxy see the girl you are, and don't worry, it wasn't more than usual." Larxene gave a shrill laugh.

"Oh dear. This could last for days." Namine muttered.

Larxene shoved her into the bathroom with the clothes from Tomoeda and a threat. Namine knew that she very would follow through on her threats, so no complaints were made. That is, if she remembered. But Namine didn't want to chance it.

Roxas ran in shortly after, in a desperate hurry to find his friend. To his dismay, there was only Larxene, passed out on the couch, no doubt from an unexpected bar of chocolate after so long of not having the forbidden snack.

"This cant be good." Roxas thought as he looked around for evidence of Namine in the room.

Roxas soon heard a small peep coming from the back left side of the living room, by the bathrooms. As he looked over, Namine inched out, expecting only to see a crazed Larxene. She was surprised when she noticed the keyblade wielder.

Namine was wearing an outfit Roxas had never seen before. It was a white dress, but something was different. The top had a turtle neck with open shoulders and long sleeves, flaring out at the end. The wrists had pink lace cleverly sewn on to them to give an extra flair. The skirt flared out and came to the mid thigh. It wasn't much of a difference from the length of her regular dress, but the change was nice. There were pink lace embellishments around bottom and around the waist, to form some sort of slanted belt.

"wow." Was all Roxas could say.

"Roxas! What are you doing here? Its not what it looks like! Larxene-" Namine instantly blushed, trying to explain.

Axel slipped in and grabbed the unconscious blonde on the couch, but neither nobody noticed, too engrossed in each other.

They sat there and blushed for a minute or two before saying anything.

"That's a- um…..very nice outfit." Roxas mumbled.

"thanks." Namine stuttered back.

They both got up. Namine was about to return to her regular outfit, when they heard an explosion and Larxene's mad laughter. Axel then appeared, out of breath and ragged.

"Guys, we've got a whole bunch of trouble on our plate. Larxy hasn't finished burning off that chocolate." Axel sighed.

"Why'd you give it to her in the first place?" Roxas yelled.

"I figured it wouldn't last that long. Besides, she's a harmless 'drunk'." Axel laughed at the nickname. Right as he said that, another explosion occurred with Larxene laughing and Zexion screaming like a little girl. "Most times. Now come on! We gotta go see what Larxy did to little Zexy."

They arrived to the scene of the crime with Zexion rocking himself to and fro in the darkest corner. He was mumbling to himself a short mantra. They couldn't pick it out until they arrived at the nobody.

"She….she took Mr. Bear….Mr. Bear……" Zexion cried. "He's the source of my poetry! With him as a captive, who knows what she's going to do?"

They all sighed. According to Namine, Zexion took Mr. Bear everywhere. She was in the organization longer than the other two, so she saw him lug the tattered old thing around. It stopped going to the meetings soon after axel joined and threatened the plushie.

"I have a pretty good idea what she's going to do. Come on." Axel said with a gleam in his eyes.

The plan was pretty simple in and of itself. All Roxas and Namine would do was sit and wait at the bottom of the stairs till Larxene would come. They would then pull a string, and Larxene would come tumbling down. Axel and Zexion would take care of the rest, but once or twice they heard Demyx complain to the two.

"So, what should we talk about until Larxene stomps down here?" Roxas started.

"Um, I don't know." Namine replied.

They sat in awkward silence till they remembered that they had an unfinished round of their favorite game, netherworlds and nobodies.

"Let me go grab it. I think it was on my table." Namine stood up.

"No! Larxene's out there! I can't let you go!" Roxas almost yelled.

"Um, Roxas? Thanks for the concern, but I'll just use a portal." Namine replied.

"Oh, yeah….go on ahead." Roxas blushed, feeling embarrassed.

He couldn't believe he had just made a fool of himself in front of Namine. She was kind, beautiful and funny. He enjoyed being her friend, but he sometimes wished that Sora and Kiari would pursue their relationship so he'd have an excuse to as well.

When Namine got back, she held the board firmly in her hand, figuring a way to place the board out in the small nook.

It had been several hours since they heard the last act of terrorism on Larxene's part. But Roxas and Namine were too absorbed in their game to notice. Namine's mage and Roxas' warrior were just about to defeat the legendary dragon, when Demyx appeared, being chased by Axel. (A/n: hahaha….netherworlds and nobodies = dungeons and dragons, for those of you who didn't get the joke. **Sigh** on with the story.)

"What happened? Where's Larxene?" Roxas stopped the two.

"Oh, she crashed several hours ago. She never was supposed to come over. Did I confuse you?" axel asked with a smirk.

While roxas and axel were talking, Demyx approached Namine.

"Hey, Axel has been chasing me all day. I don't want to get beat up tonight and lose my chance at the starring role in the organization play. We're talking about tonight in the meeting." Demyx whined. "Can you make sure he doesn't? I'd really appreciate it." Namine sighed.

Roxas seemed to have run axel off.

"Sorry, Roxas. I guess we'll have to slay the dragon at another time." Namine smiled. She wanted to see that dragon die, but stinking Demyx got in the way.

"It's alright. I guess we better head over to the organization meeting." Roxas replied.

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Thanks for reading everyone!! Yes, the crossovers won't get here for a little bit, but it's coming. I have to set up the stage a little more before our favorite nobodies can do some traveling. Big baskets of sweets if you review!!


	2. travel to the new world

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: no, I don't own kingdom hearts, although technically I do, because I bought the game. But ah well. Ok, so how many of you caught my card captor sakura reference last chapter? Anyone? Well, that's not the last of them. When you see one, review and tell me!

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"Alright, settle down everyone!" Xemnas called. Larxene was eying axel, thinking of a way to get revenge.

Namine was never really _supposed_ to go to these meetings, but she was after all technically a member of the organization. After all, who would be the one to type up what they said? It was the system they had used from the very beginning. Xemnas lead the meetings with Saiix as the 'vice president.' Namine would be the secretary and write everything down, who in turn give it to Luxord. He posted up Namine's notes for a week until the next meeting. That way, everyone could know what was going on in the organization at all times.

"So, let's talk organization play." Saiix started out. "Any suggestions?"

"How about a musical?" Marluxia suggested.

"I think we should do a violent one." Larxene hissed as axel slunk under the table.

"You always want to do a violent one. Lets do something different this year." Axel raised his hand, extending his finger above the table. If Larxene was going to throw anything, he wouldn't mind if his finger were pricked.

"I kinda agree with Marluxia. A musical could be fun. We've never tried it before." Demyx agreed.

They all were expecting what would happen next. In fact, it happened every year. They almost knew the argument by heart, but it seemed as if it were tradition and needed to occur.

"I still don't see why we're performing for a bunch of dusks. They don't appreciate it." Zexion sighed and flipped his hair.

"Its character building. Deal with it." Xemnas retorted.

"All I'm saying is we could be doing something better with our time. Something like I don't know, take over the universe? Have we forgotten this plan?" Zexion mumbled.

"Oh sure, you're all cool and confident now that Mr. Bear's back." Axel laughed under the table.

"What was that? Why you!!" Zexion growled.

"Calm down, calm down. Let us commence with the regular play duties. It is tradition, after all." Xemnas explained.

"But we don't have hearts." Zexion argued.

"That does not mean we cannot participate. After all, what else do we have to do?" Xemnas replied.

Zexion _hmped _as he sat down. As long as he didn't have to take the female role, he'd be fine. As the meeting adjourned, they all agreed that a play never before written would be best. Namine was charged to write the play, because quite frankly, no one wanted to be the scape goat if it turned out bad.

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"I don't know what to do, Roxas. I draw, you know that. Zexion is the writer!" Namine plopped on the couch.

"Don't worry. Axel and I will help you. And I'll make sure you don't get hurt if it does turn out bad." Roxas swore.

"Roxas!" Namine hit her friend.

"Just kidding. I know you'll do great. You just gotta stroke everyone's ego a little bit." Roxas replied.

Namine's face turned from a smile to that of a look of hopelessness. She wasn't sure she could come up with anything. She leaned her head in her hands and sighed.

Roxas placed his arm around her to try and cheer her up. She leaned into the hug, feeling his warm embrace and strong arms. At least she knew he really could protect her if it came to that.

"Thanks." She said, as she lifted up her head. "You're always right there, and I'm so glad we met. I would have never known such happiness without you or Axel. I suppose I would have been doomed to a life of solitude."

"Yeah, well, I guess we were just in the right place at the right time. Ansem's little fake twilight town isn't exactly the cave of wonders." Roxas laughed.

"You mean that place that Sora went to, trying to save jasmine? With genie and everyone?" Namine smiled at the memory. Because of Sora, Roxas and Namine had a few of the same memories. He, Sora's actual memories, and her because of the drawings and interferences that had happened only a few months ago.

"So! How are you going to sculpt my character?" Axel popped up, surprising the two.

"Don't do that!" Roxas yelled.

"Aww, did I walk in on Roxy's special date?" Axel joked. Namine couldn't move, she was so shocked.

"Leave us alone, Axel. We need to start on ideas for the show." Roxas waved his friend away.

"Oooh! I've got one. You see, there's this brave mustachioed hero named 'the legendary Axel', and he rescues a Spanish maiden and-" Axel spewed.

"I said we need to get ideas Axel. Now go away." Roxas sighed.

"Aww, it'll be a lovebird's production!" Axel laughed.

By the time Roxas chased him away, half of the organization had swarmed around Namine, shouting out ridiculous ideas much like Axel's. The other half had started a movie and watching the opening credits. He knew Namine wouldn't get a good night's sleep anytime soon.

That night, Roxas saw Namine, who was watching the heart shaped moon on her deck. He checked his hair mirror quickly, and then created a black portal that led to her balcony.

"Hey, what are you still doing up?" Roxas asked.

"Couldn't sleep. You?" she replied.

"Nah, thought you might like some company. You looked kind of lonely here all by your self. You certainly look cold. Do you want my coat?" Roxas noted.

She took the coat gratefully. They stared at the moon for a bit longer, every once in a while, a random heart would float into the sky.

Namine sighed. She had changed outfits recently and was now dressed in a white tank top and pink sweat pants. Even dressed like this, Roxas thought Namine was beautiful. She was braiding her hair to the side, like she usually did when she was nervous.

"Do you think I'll do alright on the play?" Namine asked no one in particular.

"Of course. If your writing is as half as good as your art, it'll be phenomenal. Besides, what are a bunch of dusks going to do? Write a bad review?" Roxas joked.

Namine laughed at this and replied. "Thanks Roxas. I just gotta get my mind off everything, and it could be fun."

"Hey" Roxas perked up. "Why don't we go somewhere? It'll get the creative juices flowing and help you get a clear mind."

"But Roxas! They'll come after us. After all, they all want to be the starring lead." Namine cried.

"I'll protect you." Roxas smiled, calling the keyblade to his hands and he swung it around a few times which started Namine clapping.

"You might want to find some way to explain that little story to the big guy." Axel appeared.

"What are you doing here, Axel?" Roxas recoiled.

"Running from Larxy. She's planning something, I know it." Axel shuddered.

"Why would you be running, Axel?" a demented voice appeared behind the redhead.

Roxas knew sparks were going to fly-literally. In order to protect Namine, he did the first thing he knew to do against Larxene. He'd run. And he'd make sure he'd take Namine somewhere safe.

The easiest way to make that idea a reality was to create a black portal. He quickly summoned one up and herded Namine into it.

"Don't think you can get away that easily!" Larxene fumed to axel, who was trying to sneak in with Roxas and Namine.

Before they all knew it, they had gone into the darkness and were falling and falling fast. Larxene pushed axel in anger and they entered into a dark portal within the portal. She figured if she got rid of axel now, there wouldn't be any witnesses.

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"Ouch….that really hurt." Roxas rubbed his head. "Namine! Namine, where are you?"

"I'm right here. Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd get off me!" Namine sounded muffled.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Roxas quickly rolled off the girl and stood up. He then put out his hand for the nobody to take it.

"Where are we?" Namine asked in wonder.

"I don't know, but we're safe from Larxene, and that's all that matters." Roxas replied.

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"What the heck happened? Axel asked, rubbing his temple.

Larxene was just getting up as well, remembering what happened. Her anger hadn't lessened from the fall; in fact, it was just about to her boiling point. She quickly gathered her self and was about to attack. She was going for a neck shot, quick and easy. Right when she had her face next to his, Axel did the only thing he could think of.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little chocolate, no bigger than his thumb. He shoved it in her mouth and she immediately backed up. Chocolate gave her the same effect as being drunk, and to have one shoved into her mouth so suddenly was a surprise.

"Come on, Larxy; let's go see where we're at." Axel sighed, leading his now confused and dazed friend.

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All righty people! Thanks for reading more of my story! The crossovers will be arriving in the next chapter, so don't you fret. But let me tell you, its going to only get better from here. Thanks for reading and make sure to push that review button!!


	3. New friends

Chapter 3

Hey everyone! It's me again! Just wanted to put in a little note before the story got started. for all you axel fans out there, I'm sorry I didn't get it in earlier, but you'll find his catch phrase in this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own, I just fantasize. Got it memorized?

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Roxas could hear voices coming by as they looked around. He and Namine appeared to be in a city not unlike their world that never was. Only, there were a lot more people and giant, shiny zooming monsters that roared as they passed the lost nobodies. Roxas was about to attack one, when the voices came closer.

"I'm just saying, I can be cute anytime I want to be!" a girl argued.

"Well, if Narumi-san thinks you're cute sometimes, does that mean I always think you're cute?" a boy replied. The third boy of the group remained silent.

Roxas was trying to get a little closer so he could hear. Surely these people would be able to help them find a place for the night, as it was getting darker, and Roxas didn't know if either of them had the energy to make another dark portal. He hadn't eaten since breakfast. He went a little too far and tripped on a branch and fell out of the bushes.

"Helloooo….." the girl stopped and looked at the fallen keyblade warrior. He quickly got up and brushed of his black cloak.

"Um, hi." Roxas replied as Namine walked out of their hiding spot.

The three of them looked at Roxas and Namine, who must have looked like weirdoes to them. Roxas was still decked out in his organization cloak, and Namine had only her pajamas on.

One of the boys started to walk away like he didn't care about the strangely dressed people that had exited the bushes. He had shaggy brown hair and a few earrings. The girl had caramel braids, and was wearing what Kairi would call a 'school uniform', Namine guessed. The third boy was dressed identically to the first boy with copper eyes and mint green hair.

"Narumi-san!" the girl ran after the boy, literally dragging him back. "they look like they have no idea what's going on. Lets take them back to your place, and you can cook a delicious meal!"

"Hey, that actually sounds like a good idea! We can make something delicious and unhealthy for a change!" the boy with mint green hair added.

They smiled at the first boy apparently named Narumi until he broke down and agreed to make dinner. But only if it was healthy, much to the second boy's dismay. Namine and Roxas were headed to the Narumi apartment for dinner.

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Quickly after putting sugar into Larxene's system, the nobody was getting antsy. Axel didn't have the energy to summon a portal after all the running he did from Larxene, and he didn't trust her to make one in her current state of mind. So, in the mean time, they were stuck. Which wasn't so bad, but he didn't want someone silly, like Demyx, to get his role in the play Namine would write.

Axel dragged Larxene to a small house in the woods, near by where they entered this world. On the top of the doors was a humble sign that said: 'Fujita Diner.'

They walked in and a blonde girl was cleaning up what must have been a busy dinner shift, mumbling to herself about some recipe or another. A boy with dark hair was helping her and on the side, chewing out an older guy with a bandana. The girl looked up as the robed nobodies entered.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed right now." The girl stopped.

The younger boy stopped his lecture and looked at the new arrivals.

"We're sorry to interrupt, but-" Axel held on to a squirming Larxene. "but we have no idea where we are. Do you have a place we can crash?"

"What's up with the get ups? Are you guys designers or something?" the old guy asked, leaning in his chair against the wall.

"It's a long story." Axel sighed, gathering his thoughts. "We'd be happy to tell you if you let us have a spot to sleep tonight."

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"That was delicious, once again, Narumi-san!" Hiyono exclaimed.

"So, Roxas, Namine. You guys needed a place to sleep tonight, right?" Hizumi, the copper eyed boy coyly requested.

"No, do you have a place in mind?" Roxas replied.

"Yeah, as long as Ayumu-kun thinks it's an ok idea." He smiled. Ayumu knew where he was going with this.

"Fine, it'd be alright. Just take the guest room." he sighed.

"Me too, Narumi-san? I'm sure Namine would be much more comfortable with a girl in the house against all these men." Hiyono smiled.

Ayumu didn't say anything. Hiyono knew what he was going to answer, but waited for him to say something. He didn't. So, she smiled, thanked him for the dinner and promptly left. Namine heard something about Ayumu's level of trust, but didn't say anything.

"Is she going to be all right?" Namine asked.

"Well, we'll go talk to her. I have a feeling Ayumu-kun is going to need her later, so it'll be alright." Hizumi replied.

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"Interesting story." The old guy known as Fujita mused.

Axel had just made up some story using Fujita's 'designer' comment earlier to craft some weird story about how they were lost due to a freak accident on the way to fashion week. Larxene was still too dazed to object to being the model in Axel's tale, so he did most of the talking. She was already going to pound him for giving her chocolate, so he figured he might as well add insult to injury. They agreed to do some work for their room and board. The dark haired boy said he'd talk to his dad about sleeping arrangements and they'd know by tomorrow whether they could stay. Axel didn't really know why the boy had to talk to his father, but he went with it.

They'd have to borrow sleeping clothes, but that was easily arranged. Larxene was quite petite. They could easily fit into Najika and Fujita's clothes.

"Hello, my name is Najika. I hope you're able to get home soon. I know I'd hate to be in your shoes." the blonde girl set a chocolate cake in front of them.

"But what do my shoes have anything to do with it?" Larxene slurred.

"Nothing Larxy. Now sit down here please." Axel pulled her onto the chair.

Najika set a couple of slices of chocolate cake in front of them, explaining that she made it today and thought they might be hungry. Larxene was about to dig in, seeing as she needed a new bit of sugar, but Axel put his hand in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but she's had all the sugar she can for today. I think you know what I mean. Got it memorized?" Axel smugly explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't think about it." Najika apologized.

"You…you didn't know." Larxene hummed as she fell back on her chair, asleep.

"Well, I'm heading home for the night. Sweet dreams!" she said as she left the diner.

Upstairs there was a small room with a couple of cots that Fujita set up. They had enough room to walk in between the cots and that was about it. Axel dumped the sleeping Larxene onto one and then rolled on to his.

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The next morning, Roxas was the first one up. He gently put the blanket back over Namine in her separate bed and stumbled into the kitchen. He was just getting used to the cold tiled floor when the phone rang.

"Snap, I better get that. I don't want to wake anyone. But it'd be kind of weird if I answered Narumi-san's phone." Roxas thought. By the second ring, he had the phone in his hand and started to talk.

"Hello, Narumi residence."

There was a voice that sounded kind of like Ayumu, but it wasn't quite there.

"Roxas." The voice cooed.

"How did you know?" Roxas whispered in disbelief.

"My name is Narumi Kiyotaka. Now, please listen to me carefully. Narumi Ayumu must never hear of this call…."

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The following morning, Axel awoke to Larxene leaning over him, watching him like a hawk with a silly smile plastered on her face.

"Let me guess, you had some of that cake this morning" Axel grumbled.

He rolled out of bed to where the expectant and perky Larxene was standing. She certainly had some chocolate. Larxene was _not_ a morning person.

"And to think I almost miss you violent." Axel sighed, watching the blonde bounce around, waiting for her friend to get out of bed. They could smell something delicious wafting up from the kitchen. The nobodies walked down the steps to find the large dining area filled to capacity with students, grabbing a quick bite to eat before the day's classes.

"Good morning, you two. Help Najika serve the customers." Fujita ordered Axel. He took a look at Larxene and said with out a moment's notice, "but not you. You're definitely out of it. Plate the dishes for Axel to deliver."

After the breakfast rush was over, Najika and the dark haired boy left to go to class, leaving cleaning up to Larxene and Axel.

"I'm sorry to have left you with such a mess" Najika bowed, when she got back from morning classes.

"Hey, I just had to knock Larxy out. Just let me inform you of one thing." Axel said, stepping closer and closer each time. "Never. Give. Larxene. Chocolate."

By that time, Axel was just a few inches away from Najika's face.

"Hey! Back down! Najika didn't know!" Daiskue, the dark haired boy yelled.

"Just saying, Larxy's sugar rushes make her scarier than her regular, violent self. Got it memorized?" Axel smirked as he turned and waved.

They had some free time until tonight, when the director of the school would decide their fate.

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Well, hope that wasn't too long/bad. Also, I apologize if Daiskue's name is spelled wrong. I'm too lazy to look it up. Anyway, REVIEW!!!! Please and thank you! 3


	4. Information is relayed

Chapter 4

Hello again! Just working at some random things. Well, you spiral fans, you'll enjoy this chapter, because Rio, Ryoko and Kouske make a cameo appearance. Unfortunately, this will be one of the only times they appear for a looooooong time. Sorry if I spelled Kouske's name wrong, once again, I'm much too lazy to check up on it. But anywho, disclaimer time!!!

"I've got a lymric for you. It's a disclaimer and rhyme too.

The story I work with is not mine so you see, don't blame any stealing on me."

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Roxas hung up the phone. "What was this Kiyotaka guy planning?" he thought. He had not only talked to Roxas, but Namine too. As far as he could tell, Kiyotaka was trying to figure out just what they could do.

"Are you alright, Roxas? You look troubled. Kiyotaka-sama didn't ask you anything too bad, did he?" Namine appeared from the room, waiting for Roxas to get done.

"No, I'm fine. I just wish I knew what was in store for us. He talked to you about what we've got to do, didn't he?" Roxas clarified.

"Yeah. I tried to get him to understand the condition on my powers, but I-" Namine was interrupted.

"shhh." Roxas mouthed. He heard someone waking up, so he whispered to the girl. "We aren't allowed to tell Ayumu-kun of this. I think it'd be better if we talked later."

She nodded, and they headed into the kitchen to prepare for the day.

"Good morning, both of you." Hizumi sleepily smiled. "What are the plans for today?"

"They're going to see some friends of mine." Ayumu walked in.

He didn't want to tell Hizumi exactly what he had planned for Roxas and Namine that day because he still didn't trust the copper eyed boy. Knowing that he could turn devil at any moment kept Ayumu on his toes.

The four sat at the table for a quaint breakfast, and then headed off to school. When they reached the high school, Ayumu gave the two nobodies a map that lead to the hospital where the blade children were residing.

Roxas had borrowed a pair of jeans from Ayumu and a plain black shirt. Since Madoka was too big for Namine, she had to wear one of the smaller black jackets in Madoka's closet. Namine also had to borrow a pair of pants; they fit a little bit better than the jacket did.

When they got to the hospital, a kind nurse led them up to Kouske's room, where the redhead would be for sure.

When they got up there, two girls were talking with Kouske. One was small and had grey hair, tied up in ponytails. The other was a brunette, holding on to the sleeping redhead's hand. As soon as Roxas and Namine entered, she quickly let go.

They were bandaged pretty well. The redhead boy was lying on the bed, no doubt due to much more severe injuries than the other two. The small girl had bandages in a few places, but not very many. Still, there were some questions left unanswered.

"Hello, are you guys Rio, Ryoko and Kouske?" Roxas asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" the small one asked.

"I'm Roxas and this is Namine. A man by the name of Kiyotaka Narumi sent us here. I assume you know him." Roxas stated.

"Kiyotaka-sama sent you here?" the brunette stood up.

"I don't believe them." Kouske mentioned from his bed.

Before anyone else could say anything, the phone rang. The grey haired girl quickly answered it. She nodded a few times with a face of disbelief. She then hung up the phone to inform her friends of the news she had just received.

"Apparently they do have something to do with Kiyotaka-sama." She whispered.

She hung her head and then sighed.

"My name is Rio. This is Ryoko and Kouske, and we are called the blade children." Rio introduced them one by one.

"Rio. Tell us what Kiyotaka told you." Ryoko reacted.

"Yeah little sis. Fill us in." Kouske agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you later. But first, I would like to tell you of the blade children, and how we got these injuries." Rio sighed.

"We're cursed. There are people who want to hurt us and others who wish to save us. There is also a group who only wants to observe. We are all geniuses in our respective ways." Ryoko jumped in.

"You see, a fellow member of the blade children named Kanone Hilbert was sent to be killed by Ayumu-kun. He found a way to defeat him, but not without any injuries. That's why we're here." Kouske simplified it. "We were caught in the cross fire, but we won the match."

"Kiyotaka-sama is the puppet master for all of us. He creates situations that Ayumu-kun has to defeat in order to finish the plan. Kiyotaka-sama said you already know it, so I won't waste time telling you. However, I think it's important for you to know us incase we're needed." Rio finished, her grey eyes filled with grief.

Namine and Roxas were stunned. They didn't think in all the worlds they traveled to that a situation quite like this could ever play out.

***********************

"I don't get why we have to pretend we're that director's underlings or something. I could kill him with the slightest of ease. Besides, I could have just worn pants, couldn't I?" Larxene fumed.

"Larxy, Larxy. Look. We're just going to do some recon. Besides, if you kill anyone, I'm sure there'd be some kind of trouble." Axel sighed.

"But the skirt?" Larxene whined.

Axel didn't reply. He'd picked the outfit after lunch while she was still unconscious. Najika and her model friend had pulled their clothes together to get something appropriate for Larxene to wear. Najika had put in a pleated green skirt that reached just above Larxene's knees. Akane found a white silk blouse in her closet and added it to the outfit. The sleeves were short and puffy and it had a nice collar. They finished the outfit with a pair of black heels with a 3 inch heel and a couple of bracelets. Larxene wasn't too happy, but Axel didn't mind the view one bit.

Axel himself was wearing an outfit he didn't particularly enjoy. He had to borrow some khaki slacks and white shirt, complete with a green tie. It not only matched Larxene's outfit, but also brought out the few flecks of green in his eyes. He feared Larxene would say no without a thought, so he took advantage of her unconsciousness after her outfit was put on and worked with Najika and Akane to get her hair into a more mundane style.

"What the heck did you do to me?" Larxene screamed when she woke up.

"Well, we had to do _something_. I don't think the director would appreciate the black coat." Akane shrugged.

Axel could sense Larxene's anger brimming over. She was about to explode. He had to do something quick, or else there really would be trouble.

"Larxy, come here for a minute. I need to talk to you for a minute." Axel slipped into another room quickly and called back to the blonde.When she entered, he shut the door and got right down to business.

"Look, I don't like this situation anymore than you do, but if you get into trouble, I may just have to tell the whole organization about your dirty little secret. I believe Mr. Oven mitt and Mrs. Spatula might know something about how you like to spend your free time?" Axel hummed.

"You wouldn't. You couldn't." Larxene gasped. "How do you even know about that?"

"I have my ways. Promise me you won't hurt anyone." Axel stepped closer.

"Look. I can make this easy, or I can make this hard. I'm willing to whatever it takes to get something done, Axel. I'm not afraid to dirty a few hands to get stuff done." Larxene retorted.

She turned on her heels and left the room. Axel gulped. She would follow through on her threats, if pushed.

*********************

Ayumu was looking out the window. He just didn't feel in the mood to pay attention. Besides, school had just started again after the whole Kanone incident, and he had been getting more and more attention and questions he didn't want to answer. He was in the middle of planning dinner for that night, when he realized Hiyono hadn't walked with them to school this morning. She always walked with them, so of course he realized when she wasn't there.

Ayumu didn't really like Hiyono hanging around. She was good to have when information needed to be gathered, or a wild card needed to be played. It's not like he hated her, he just wasn't one for her bright outbursts or little songs and puppets. From the bottom of his heart, at this moment, he could not like her.

But of course she liked him. He already figured on it. Their personalities were so different, but they some how got drawn together. However, Ayumu could not, would not accept her as anything but 'that girl.' He almost couldn't afford it. If Aniki used that leverage- well he wouldn't think of it.

"She did seem pretty shaken about something with trust. But what can I do about it. It's her choice." Ayumu thought. "Well, she's not at school today, so I'll just forget about it."

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Alright, that about wraps up another chapter. Next time, we'll get to meet some new characters! Whee! Make sure to review!!


	5. fangirls' rising

Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Well, chapter five already! Before we get on with disclaimers, I'd like to say that Jennifer, Aaya and Yuri all belong to me. So do the three Hiyono meets. But you'll see what I'm talking about in a minute. Everyone else belongs to their own respected owners. Yay.

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The meeting with the director could have gone better. No one was hurt, thankfully, but remember, 1st impressions are key to everything.

"Well, that could have gone better." Axel sighed.

They were allowed to stay, but they could not take classes, and were strictly working for room and board. So, to fill up the day, Axel and Larxene worked Fujita Diner for the rest of the time they were at Seika Academy.

Now, Axel hadn't been there more than a week, and he already had a group of giggling girls who seemed to follow him. He heard them from time to time, but ignored them. It was only usually in the dining area anyway, so it didn't really matter.

Sure, he was well sculpted. Thanks to all the dirty work the organization put him through. But he had no reason to return the glances and the waves. Besides, it seemed with everything going on, it seemed like fate- or a pesky author- was trying to push he and Larxene together.

The next night, Axel was getting ready to go to bed, when he thought he heard something rustling in the trees just outside his window. There was a short, staccato sound like the laughter of teenage girls. He drew the curtain, just in case.

************************

"Well ladies, it sounds like we've got a new target. Ever since Sora sempai died, we've been meaning to find someone that fit the bill. I think Axel does, don't you?" one girl laughed.

"He practically breaks it." another agreed.

"Let's get to work." The third stated.

**********************

Hiyono drew a sharp breath. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Roxas and Namine had gotten in contact with Kiyotaka Narumi? Even more, he made them apart of his sick plan? And why couldn't Narumi-san find out?

So many questions swirled in her head. But she cleared her mind and gripped the handle. She had to get some answers.

Rio seen Hiyono's shadow appear at the bottom of Kouske's door when Roxas and Namine had begun to speak. Rio knew Hiyono had stood and heard everything that was said in the last hour. If Hiyono really did hear everything, then it would eventually get to Ayumu.

"Hello, Hiyono-chan. I assume you heard everything we've been discussing, haven't you?" Rio calmly asked as the brunette burst through the door, masking the worry on her face.

"Yes, but don't worry." She smiled, standing where she had jumped to. "Narumi would be none the wiser, so long as he doesn't get hurt."

The air was heavy with silence. The pressure was about to burst, when all of a sudden, Hiyono picked up her bag that had dropped as she bounced into the room.

"Well, since you have company, I'll leave you to it. There's something I've got to check up on for a story I was writing." Hiyono smiled.

She left the hospital room without another word.

"My, my. That was weird." Ryoko commented.

"Is she going to keep her word? Jou-chan is a big blabber mouth. She may be running to outo-san right this minute." Kouske noted.

"No. she's telling the truth." Rio confirmed.

Roxas and Namine couldn't believe had just happened. Rio was able to read Hiyono's mood. Namine guessed that something was wrong, but Ryoko cut her off.

"Don't worry, if we know Jou-chan, she'll bounce back from whatever she's facing." Kouske voiced. "She'd better."

*********************

Axel couldn't sleep that night. Visions of fangirls twirled in his head. He woke up with a start.

"Whew. I sure hope _that_ never happens." Axel mumbled. He heard Larxene turn over in her sleep and mutter something from her dream. Axel gingerly stepped onto the freezing floor and stood by Larxene's bed.

"Good night, you silly girl." Axel laughed. He fixed her blankets and then went downstairs to grab a freshly made cookie.

*************************

It had been a couple of days since the hospital scene, and Ayumu was still clueless as to his brother's plan. Hiyono had kept her word.

It was the day of the blade children's hospital release. Madoka would need another few nights to completely heal.

Tomorrow would be their first day back, and Roxas and Namine's first day of school ever. Eyes Rutherford showed up at the hospital in his traditional black leather outfit, bearing a melon for his friends. While they were all enjoying the fruit, no one took vocal note of Hiyono's absence. It was like a taboo. No one asked, no one answered.

************************

A bright light shone in Hiyono's face. She could make out 3 separate voices, 2 male and one female. When they removed the blindfold and bright light, Hiyono found her suspicions to be correct. Standing in front of her was a woman and two men.

"I thought I was meeting Narumi Kiyotaka. That's what I was told when I called." Hiyono stated, coming back from whatever had knocked her out in the first place.

"You will. But not yet. Did you really think it'd be that easy to get a hold of Kiyotaka-sama and actually meet him?" one of the men scoffed.

"Then why was I knocked out?" Hiyono asked.

"Because, princess. We have our set of rules too. Now, play nice, and you will see Kiyotaka-sama. Do anything wrong, and there might be an accident." The female coldly laughed.

A shiver ran down Hiyono's spine. She had never encountered anyone quite so harsh. That shiver quickly turned to fear. She scoffed and turned her head, feigning bravery, but deep down inside her, she had doubts.

"What if they decide I'm not in the 'great' Kiyotaka's plan? What if they decide to kill me? Even worse, what if Kiyotaka fabricates a situation where Ayumu needs to kill me?" she thought. With each passing moment, she tried to hush such ideas from her mind, but they forced themselves back in.

*****************************

"Hey Axel! Take this order to table three!" Najika called, placing a plate of food at the red-haired nobody. Axel grabbed it and turned around table three was the table in the corner, Axel remembered.

Table three had three girls precariously seated. They kept smiling and waving at him, and quite frankly, he thought it annoying. He got the vibe that they planning something.

Axel took the trash out that night, only to find the three girls waiting for him by the dumpster.

"Nice meeting place." He thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

"Hey Axel! The girls cried. He ignored them, which only made them smile, giggle and wave even more. Honestly, he didn't think it registered to them that he wanted all three of them to go away.

One girl, Axel labeled as the leader, was clearly American. She had a very different accent, and long blonde hair. Axel wondered how much of it was real.

Her name was Jennifer or something. He didn't particularly pay attention. Her cronies were called Aayame and Yuri. Aaya had short brown hair with big brown eyes. Yuri was the shortest of the three and had muted red hair that was usually worn in some sort of braid. Daiskue mentioned before that they had been big fans of his older brother, Sora.

Najika and Daiskue weren't able to easily talk about why Sora didn't have mobs of girls surrounding where he went. Not that he went anywhere these days. Sora had died prior to Axel and Larxene's arrival. Axel accepted death easily. He accepted it, because he knew death's icy claws would never grasp him the way they did others. The only thing he thought was weird was, not even a month after the boy died, someone who looked absolutely nothing like Sora had arrived at Seika academy.

"So, where did you come from, Axel?" one of the girls cooed.

The short sentence pushed everything from Axel's head. These girls were like the dusks. They were weak but annoying. He couldn't deal with this now. Too bad he didn't have the violent tendencies Larxene did. Then he might have had a reason to attack.

Larxene had come over without Axel's noticing. When she saw the girls ganging up on the flame nobody, a little red flag went up in her head.

"I'm the only one who gets to mess with number eight." Larxene clenched her teeth and padded over.

"Hello, ladies…." Larxene glared, giving them a once over.

Due to the fact that she was standing in the slanted shadow cast by the diner, the only thing Jennifer, Yuri and Aaya could see was the fire in Larxene's eyes.

"Look. Axel here, he's my punching bag. If you want to do anything to him, you've got to get through me first." Larxene scoffed.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Yuri laughed. Aaya joined her, getting cut off by Jennifer.

"You see, these are _my_ boundaries. Ever since Akane turned 'nice', I've had to pick up the slack. When Sora-kun died, it affected all of us. But we needed to move on. Axel's our target now." Jennifer sneered.

"Axel seems to be the perfect replacement." Yuri smiled, tossing her hair to add effect.

"I mean, it's not like _you _like him or anything." Aaya added.

That tore it.

Larxene was about to summon her kunai and attack the three, but Axel stepped in.

"But of course my feelings don't count in any of this." Axel sarcastically remarked.

He coolly walked over to Larxene, placed his hands on her shoulders and mouthed 'go with me on this.' She gulped and no longer than that, Axel had dipped the blonde nobody and was kissing her.

He heard gasps from the three and Larxene as well. She surely wasn't expecting that kind of sugar from Axel. He brought her back up and smiled. She really would kill him for that, had it been any other situation.

"Got it memorized?" axel smirked to the girls as he coolly walked back into the diner. A smile played on Larxene's lips as she followed him.

The three girls stood there, speechless. After another few minutes, Aaya and Yuri followed Jennifer as she stomped back to the school.

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Awesome! Thanks for reading, everyone! Please review, this story is just getting started. More spiral up next!


	6. Hiyono's back!

Chapter 6

Welcome back! More spiral in this one. Hope you guys like it! Everyone belongs to their respective creators, including the ones I made up. ^w^ oh, in this chapter, I included a line from an old movie called "Rigoletto". It's not the opera, but the one put out by feature films for families. Those of you who have seen it will know which one it is.

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"Good morning, class. It seems we have two new students in our class today. It doesn't appear you're from around here, are you?" the teacher asked, writing the two nobodies names on the board. Kiyotaka had arranged for them to receive fake last names, due to the fact they had never had one.

"Yes. You could say we're from so far away, you wouldn't even know it existed." Roxas stated. "I'm Roxas Namura, and this is Namine Takahashi" Roxas introduced the two. (A/n: I know, those names are sooooooo common and stuff, but I just couldn't think of any good ones. please just bear with me.)

"We're very glad to meet you. There's an extra seat for Takahashi-chan behind Azudaki and one for you in front of Narumi-san. Please take your seats so we may begin." The teacher told Roxas and turned to begin the lesson.

They quietly took their seats and listened for the duration of the class period. Kind of. Namine started some lazily kept notes; some were for class, others for the play she hadn't started on. Roxas was staring into space, pretending to pay attention.

School would be cake, after all. Narumi Kiyotaka had told them they'd be back in time for the play, so it wasn't like they even had to pass.

When school got out, Ayumu, Hizumi and the nobodies walked home. at the arcade they passed, Ayumu caught a glimpse of the braided reporter.

He didn't want to call out her name; there were too many people. What was the chance it actually was Hiyono? Nevertheless, he wanted to speak to her. Hiyono hadn't picked up anytime he called, and was absent a lot more often than usual.

She was looking around, almost like she was looking for someone-him. She spotted Ayumu and looked him straight in the eyes. Ayumu could see fear, but she turned away and began to run. There was a big guy right in Ayumu's way with dark, cropped hair and a piercing gaze. It seemed as if the man and Hiyono had planned for Ayumu to find them at the arcade.

Ayumu couldn't take it anymore. He just _had_ to talk to his friend. He almost kind of missed her. Not that he'd tell anyone, because he must always have a stoic exterior around her.

He knew she was going to get away, so quickly, he bolted into the crowd to find the girl.

"Hey! We still have to shop for dinner, Ayumu-kun!" Hizumi cried out.

Ayumu ignored them and ran into the man with dark cropped hair. Picking himself up, he ran to where he found the girl.

"Where did all these people come from?" Ayumu thought to himself, pushing and shoving past people who weren't there before.

He ignored all the clatter, all of the noise. He had to catch Hiyono today, no matter what.

He was so close! Ayumu seemed to be just inches from his friend. If he could have, he would have called out to her, but it was so noisy. The next thing he knew, the entire world went black, taking the reporter with it.

"Narumi-san? Narumi-san?" Hiyono was bending above the boy, rousing him awake. There was a quick flash of light, and Hiyono turned into Namine. His mind must have been playing tricks on him.

"Ugh. Where am I?" Ayumu mumbled.

"Your apartment. Roxas and Hizumi-kun went to get you an ice pack. You hit your head pretty hard." Namine replied, moving so he could sit up.

"What happened? Where did Hiyono-chan go?" Ayumu rubbed his temple.

"Yuizaki-chan? Did you see her? I don't think anyone else did. You bumped into this really big guy and knocked yourself out." Namine explained.

"But I saw her! She was there!" Ayumu shot up.

"Take it easy." Namine tried to calm him. "I believe you."

Ayumu slipped down and sighed. He was sure he saw her. It couldn't have been a mistake. He was certain it was her, even after a few moments of uncertainty. Was she doing something to him? Was it Kiyotaka's idea? Ayumu placed his hands on his forehead. Thinking about it just gave him a headache. There was one thing he knew for sure. He had to talk to his estranged friend.

"This is just so frustrating." Ayumu sighed.

"I know. And I'm sorry." Namine comforted. "I wish I knew how you feel."

She knew that technically, she would never feel how worried Ayumu truly was. Without a heart to hold feelings of love and loss, she didn't know the words he needed to hear. Sora, Kiari and Riku, and Diz were the only people she knew personally who could experience both.

"Well, we'll find her." Roxas stated, walking in with a bag of ice for Ayumu.

"Yeah, Ayumu-kun. You gotta stay positive." Hizumi followed, placing four bottles of juice on the table.

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Short chapter that time, cuz there's a lot more coming. We'll get to meet the three Hiyono's been hanging around with and she will be apart of the story again. Yay!!


	7. late nights and dirty dealings

Chapter 7

Hello again, everyone! Thanks to the two of you who reviewed, your names escape me at the moment. But many kudos to you anyway. More Larxene in this chapter, and Roxas and Namine get a walk to school. Let's watch!

*disclaimer: I own nothing. I need a job. T.T *

* * *

"I don't see why I had to do that. What would the mere sight of me do to Narumi-san?" Hiyono asked, back in the place with her three companions.

Over the last few days, she had come to know the three a big better. The big burly guy was Mitzuki. He was nice enough, but Hiyono didn't want to get on his bad side. He was a stickler for the rules. He wore his ebony hair in short spikes.

The next guy was a lot smaller. But that's not to say he wasn't strong; he just kept his muscles lean. Hiyono memorized everything about him. His name was Yuskue. Hiyono liked how he was always nice to her and stick up for her whenever the three were talking. Yuskue wore his shaggy brown hair kind of in his face, shading his emerald eyes. They shone whenever the man spoke of writing.

Now, Hiyono didn't like the girl. She was vain and heartless, as coldhearted as her name implied. She wore her long burgundy hair in a ponytail. Her icy blue eyes burned with intensity.

"Easy. You're simply the bait. One we're done, you'll be nothing more than a pawn. But of course, that's how low you already were." yuki laughed, looking at her nails.

"Hmp. Let's just follow Kiyotaka's plan, and everything will turn out alright." Mitzuki sighed.

"Can I ask you guys one question?" Hiyono piped up.

No one said a word, so she continued slowly. "Are you blade children? That means you've got Yaiba's blood, right?"

They all tensed at the question. They knew full well that Hiyono was aware of the truth.

"I would keep my mouth clamped if I were you. Nice girls like you who meddle don't turn out too well in the end." Mitzuki hissed.

They left her in the makeshift guest room of the house that served as the trio's base of operations.

* * *

Larxene couldn't sleep at all that night. She played the confrontation in her head over and over, trying to figure everything out. She couldn't get what that Aaya girl said.

_"I mean, it's not like __you__ like Axel or anything."_

Did she like Axel? I mean, they hadn't been friends since childhood or anything. That was physically impossible. But he was always just _there_. It was hard for her to imagine a time where she felt when he was gone. Axel was asleep like a log and snoring. She smiled at the flame haired nobody. No one must hear of this. If Larxene ever let anyone see that maybe-just maybe- there might be a good nobody down there, all her work would be for naught.

Yes, she'd been nicer lately, but that was circumstantial. Like Axel said, if she killed anyone or even gave them a cut, things could get dicey. So, in order to retain her sanity, Larxene decided that some girls might be in the running for a very good round of practical jokes.

* * *

Najika was up late again, cooking.

"Don't you ever, you know, sleep?" Fujita walked out, hearing noise in the kitchen.

"I know, but I just wanted to try a couple of things. Go on back to bed. I'll be home in a little bit." The chef smiled.

Fujita smiled back and went to bed. He knew full well Najika cooked like that when she was perplexed, or just needed to mull things over.

Seeing as she couldn't get to sleep, Larxene went down stairs for a cookie. She spotted Najika and turned to go back upstairs when she heard something. It was Najika, calling her name.

"Larxene? Is that you? You still can't be up, are you?"

Larxene really didn't want to interact. Her first instincts told her to bite back and return to her warm bed, cookie in hand. But something told her it was ok. Like the night had cast a spell. Besides, no one was watching, so she figured, why not?

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep. Mind if I join you?" Larxene sighed. Better get this 'nice' thing out of her system now.

"I'm sorry if I stopped anything, but I need someone to try this recipe, and tell me what they think." Najika explained.

While nobodies lacked hearts, they were usually pretty active in the taste buds. Everyone in the organization had one thing they excelled at. Namine had art, Zexion had poetry, for Roxas, it was swordplay and Demyx….well, he rocked at running away. Other talents included luck, knowledge, a green thumb or evil witty banter. Larxene never told anyone, but she was a master chef.

Apparently, her other had been some sort of pastry chef or something. Not that she'd ever know. No one in the organization knew who their somebodies were.

But Larxene would deny it to her very last breath, before she would fade into nothingness. She figured that was why she was so mean. She had to put up a front, or else she'd be cooking for everyone seven days a week. Although it was probably just the way her somebody was.

From her deductions of her own attitude, Larxene guessed that her somebody was kind, caring and loving. That was too sweet for Larxene's taste.

"How does this taste to you?" Najika asked, holding out a spoon for Larxene to try, breaking her train of thought.

"It's delicious!" Larxene exclaimed.

The matter was amazing. It melted in her mouth. It was a soft, spongy cake, with some sort of sugar combination and sweet herb, she couldn't place.

"I've tasted something like this before, and yet, I don't know why." Larxene was lost in thought, taking another bite.

"Well, my mom made it one year for me. It was supposed to be for a competition, but she ended up planning for another recipe. Of course, she didn't actually get to use it, because she never made it to the competition." Najika stared into space.

The two blondes stared at the wall in silence, finishing their treat until the rising of the sun told them it was time for bed.

*******************

Roxas and Namine were in charge of helping set up the classroom (A/N: I know they do that in elementary school thanks to my episodes of cardcaptor sakura, but Roxas and Namine haven't really gotten a moment together since they got here, so yeah…… just go with me on this.) so they headed out to school, leaving a solemn Ayumu with Hizumi.

This was the first time Roxas and Namine had been alone since what seemed like forever.

"So, I guess you haven't really been thinking about the play for a while, have you?" Roxas asked.

"No, I guess not. I've been thinking more about Hiyono-chan. She doesn't seem to be the type of person to just disappear like that, does she?" Namine mused.

"Well, now that you think of it, no, no she doesn't. But you remember what Kiyotaka-sama told us. We just follow the plan and everything he says will come to fruition." Roxas replied.

"Yeah, I know. But still, it just doesn't seem…. I don't know." Namine stopped. "He seems like Xemnas in a way."

Roxas stopped as well. Sure, Narumi Kiyotaka was someone who seemed to be in charge. Evil- the thought had never crossed his mind. Roxas had just assumed that since he and Ayumu-kun were brothers, there might be at least a little layer of love.

"I don't mean to say he's evil or anything, but I don't know. There's some sort of air around him that you don't see too often. Does that make sense?" Namine tapered off, walking again.

"yeah." Roxas agreed.

They got to school in silence, and found it to be clean already. There was a man, standing there, waiting. He had short black hair and big muscles.

"You must be Roxas and Namine. Nice to meet you. I'm Mitzuki. It's time you see something. Kiyotaka said you'd know what this is."He noted.

A shadow heartless stood from the ground looking around for its next victim. It bobbed it s head around, until Roxas promptly slew it with the keyblade.

"A heartless? Why are they here?" Roxas exclaimed.

"That's one of the things we need to deal with, isn't it?" Namine realized.

"Yes. They've been showing up in droves, and they're going to destroy Kiyotaka's plan if we aren't careful." Mitzuki replied.

"Answer me this, then. Why do we even have to listen to him? He's no better than us, right?" Roxas asked.

"Look. Let's just say it's in your best interest to do as we say." Mitzuki growled.

"And if I don't?" Roxas glared.

Mitzuki didn't reply. He simply walked away. Roxas growled and ran towards mitzuki, as to attack him.

"Why do we have to go through the plan? Especially Namine! She's telling you it's not going to work!"

Mitzuki turned around and pushed Roxas like he was a bug. The nobody fell into Namine, sending them both to the floor.

"Roxas…."Namine began, Roxas pulling himself and his friend from the floor. The man had left already.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, Nam. I just don't get why we even have to help." He laughed. "I guess Sora hasn't taken back all of his hate."

* * *

Alright, kiddies! That wraps up another chapter! You know that review button is begging to be pushed. It'll only take a few minutes. Warning, there will be Ayumu and Hiyono together in the next chapter. **gasp!**


	8. exciting revelations

Hello, my audience! I don't want to distract from the story, so let's get to the chase. I don't own, so ha! **Blows raspberry**

* * *

Ayumu was getting antsy. Why was Hizumi taking so long? He didn't remember the last time he was actually wanting to go to school, but he felt like he needed to especially today.

"I'm coming, Ayumu-kun. Have you got our lunches ready?" Hizumi called, clomping down the stairs.

They walked to school at a faster pace than usual, as Ayumu felt the need to get to the school building early. He accidentally bumped into Mitzuki, who was on his way out from visiting Roxas and Namine. However, Ayumu had no idea who he was, so he dismissed the bump as nothing more than chance. The man he ran into that morning seemed familiar to him, but Ayumu wouldn't be able to tell from where.

Ayumu was distracted. He desperately wanted to talk to his reporter friend. He tried waiting in the news club room, but she never showed. He knew she could have almost all the answers he'd need in just a few days, provided she could break her record. But he just needed to find her in the first place.

When lunchtime rolled around, he decided to forego the crowd Hizumi had drawn in and was eating with. He sat on the roof, much like he did in the older days, before all the stuff with the blade children began. When he got up there, he couldn't believe what he saw. It was Hiyono.

"Hey- what are you doing?" Ayumu stammered.

She was wearing her school uniform, standing by the fence on the side. The school had replaced it since the Sayoko incident. There was a slight breeze that made her braids move just enough to really notice it.

"Hello, Narumi-san." Hiyono said with an almost sad smile.

"Hey, I'm-" Ayumu began.

A scream interrupted Ayumu's voice, and Hiyono began to turn to leave. She had to go see what was wrong, and possibly grab a story in the process. Without even thinking, Ayumu grabbed Hiyono's arm and spun her around. Fear was dancing in her eyes. Ayumu guessed she knew something, but her lips were sealed. Before he let her go, he slipped a box in her hand, pulled her close and whispered "my house, tonight. Please."

She nodded and descended down the flight of stairs. He hoped she would come tonight. He needed to speak with her, and get caught up to speed.

"Well, if that bento doesn't remind her of my cooking, I don't know what will." Ayumu sighed.

* * *

Roxas and Namine heard the scream. There was another heartless attacking a student. Quickly, they ran into the hallway. Namine helped the girl out of her situation and to the nurse's office, where any scratches would be taken care of. Roxas then proceeded to destroy the shadow with a couple of strokes from the keyblade. At the end of the deserted hall, stood the braided reporter.

"Hiyono-chan!" Roxas called.

She ran without responding. Roxas was about to chase her, when Namine came back and put her hand on his shoulder. She shook her head and the nobody's key disappeared.

* * *

"Good morning, sleepy head." Daiskue smiled.

Najika had been in the kitchen all night, cleaning up after Larxene went to bed. She didn't mind. Cleaning up was sometimes just as fun as making the mess.

"Here" the dark haired boy blushed, spinning a plastic jello cup towards her. "I thought you might be hungry. The old guy over there told me you were cooking late again."

"Yeah. I just wanted to try out one of my mom's recipes while we still had fresh herbs. Thanks for thinking of me." Najika smiled, opening the jello.

Daiskue blushed. "Well, you'd better get some sleep. At least we don't have class today."

Najika and Daiskue sat in the kitchen in silence, until Daiskue's stomach started growling.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I probably took your breakfast!" Najika exclaimed.

"No, it's alright; I just haven't gotten around to eating this morning." Daiskue replied.

Najika immediately stopped eating the colored jello and ran to the cupboard. There, she grabbed out a trusty pan, a couple of eggs and some milk. If Daiskue wasn't going to make himself breakfast, who would? After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

"What are you doing?" Daiskue asked, lifting his chin from his cupped hands.

"Making you breakfast, silly. You need to eat something." Najika answered simply.

"Don't do that!" Daiskue yelled all of a sudden.

Najika tilted her head as if to say 'I don't understand'. Daiskue took a deep breath, his cheeks turning to a crimson color.

"I made some breakfast for us. You don't need to worry." Daiskue mumbled.

"What?" Najika said, putting down the pan, eggs and milk.

"I said, I made some breakfast to share. You don't need to worry about making any food this morning." Daiskue kicked at the ground.

"Oh, well thank you! Let's eat some right now." Najika offered with a smile.

They left the small, empty diner to a nearby field, where they enjoyed the delicious food that Daiskue had prepared.

******************

Axel was just waking up as Larxene was heading to bed. She looked exhausted. Axel wondered what she had spent her night doing, but he feared if he asked, she would throw something at him. Instead, he kept his mouth clamped and headed for the backyard, to begin work on his daily chores.

There was a huge pile of wood that Fujita had told Axel needed to be cut. All that was around to complete the job was a flimsy axe. It seemed old and heavy, but very sharp. Axel thought to himself. He really didn't want to spend all day on this chore.

"Well, why bother with one heavy axe, when I have two very sharp weapons of my own?" Axel smirked.

He summoned his weapons from out of no where and began the tedious job of slicing logs of wood. Just as he was finishing, there was a tiny scratching feeling on his leg.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" axel yelled as he slashed at the shadow heartless that sat at his feet. "This isn't good."

******************

"So, what's going on? Do you know what that scream was today?" Ayumu asked, as the four were standing in the kitchen.

Ayumu was cooking alone, because he wanted Hiyono to eat only things made by his hand. He could use this to wheedle information out of the usually talkative girl.

"Yeah. It was a monster called a heartless." Roxas noted, leaning on the fridge.

"They take your heart, and you become nothing more than an empty shell." Namine continued solemnly.

"Is that even possible?" Hizumi reacted in wonder.

"Yeah. And if you have a really strong heart, not only is a heartless around, but congratulations, because you end up having a nobody as well." Roxas nodded his head.

The two were talking after Mitzuki had left that morning. Roxas wanted to tell Ayumu and Hizumi about who they really were. Namine was reluctant. She wasn't sure how it would play out in Kiyotaka plan. But Roxas reassured her, and eventually, they came to an agreement about who they would tell.

"In fact, we aren't who we seem to be either." Namine piped up.

"Let me guess. You're one of those heartless things you were talking about." Ayumu commented.

"Close but no brownie points there." Roxas stood up and walked to Namine's side, grasping her hand. "We're the nobodies."

Ayumu closed his eyes and let go of the cooking. Hizumi stood there, switching his gaze between Ayumu and the nobodies.

"So, what does that mean for us?" Ayumu asked.

"You mean, you aren't surprised we're not human?" Roxas began.

"No, not really I guessed there was something about you from the first day we met. It was all in the way you carried yourselves. That, and the fact that you had no idea how school worked. Namine had some inkling, but not enough to really be on your own the first day. Also, you didn't know anything about the American Revolution. We've been learning world history since I can remember." Ayumu went back to the stove to continue cooking.

"So, what _does_ that mean for us?" Hizumi added in.

"I don't know." Namine whispered.

The room was quiet. The only noise that could be heard was the sizzling of the fried rice on the stove that Ayumu was concentrating on. Pressure to say something-anything was mounting. It went away the moment the doorbell rang. Ayumu turned off the oven, told Hizumi to set the table and acted like the conversation hadn't happened. There were bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"Hello, Narumi-san!" Hiyono smiled.

She was wearing a green cashmere sweater with an open front in a v shape. It had an empire waist, cascading down from the bottom of the v opening. There was a white tank top underneath.

She wore blue jeans with it and her traditional braids, tied up with green ribbon. Ayumu was relieved to see her come, but she wasn't alone.

"Narumi-san, I'd like to introduce to you Yuskue Yamahara."

* * *

Whew! That was a lot to type. How will the dinner date go? How will Axel's discovery affect Larxene? Most importantly, what kind of fish is Ayumu planning to fry? All of this and more, next time! (Kind of)


	9. Dinner party

Hey everyone!!!! Lots of stuff this chapter, but you'll just have to ignore me to get to it. Disclaimer time! Oh, warning, if you haven't met Hizumi and don't know of Ayumu's special problem, then there are spoilers.

I don't own, but of course you knew that already. Well, I'm going to grab a taquito, if anyone needs me.

* * *

"Daiskue, would you mind taking the trash out back? It needs to go." Najika requested.

"Sure. Lemme finish cleaning this table off first though." Daiskue replied.

"Hey, let me go. I thought I saw something out there." Axel suggested, overhearing the two speak.

It wasn't a complete lie; he had seen something out there. But it wasn't something they would expect. There were a few heartless here and there, and Axel knew questions would fly around campus. Even if they weren't all targeted at anyone he knew, it would still be troublesome.

"Alright, but are you sure? I don't have a problem with taking out the trash." Daiskue replied.

Axel nodded and grabbed the filled bag from Najika. Little did he know, there was something out there. However, it was something he wouldn't expect for quite some time. Their eyes shone in the light, waiting for the flame haired teen to enter into their trap.

"Hey there, Axel." Jennifer smiled. She was wearing a short skirt and tank top combination. The two drones were wearing outfits similar to their leader, only in different colors.

"I just came to take out the trash…." Axel pointed to the black bag in his hands.

"Well, you certainly came out at the right time." Yuri commented.

They slowly stepped towards him. With every inch they came closer, Axel took another step back. What were they, piranhas? He was wishing for someone to come to his aid. He didn't care who, just someone to get him out of this situation.

"We brought you some food. Did you want to try it?" Aaya asked.

"Well, if it's just food they want to give me…." axel thought.

Axel was brought out of his thoughts when his back rubbed up against something- it was the wall. Now there was absolutely no where to run. He felt sorry for that Sora guy Najika and Daiskue talked about sometimes. He was so popular; Axel imagined this might have happened to him at least once. Without thinking, Axel blurted out the first thing in his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry ladies, but I'm already taken." Axel feigned composure.

The girls stopped in shock. They didn't think he was telling the truth, but his bluff was convincing…so he hoped. Almost

"So, who's the lucky girl?" Jennifer sneered.

Axel gulped. He hoped not to name names, but he felt he would be pushed to it eventually. He looked around, and right above Jennifer's head was Larxene's window. There was a dim silhouette in the frame, and Axel smiled. With a smirk, Axel replied, "Larxene."

Right on cue, Larxene opened the window and called out for Axel. She looked down and saw him in the middle of the pesky girls. When she spoke, they all looked up at her.

"Hey, what are we doing tomorrow night?" Larxene called out.

Of course, she meant about the chores, but the three girls didn't know that. They assumed she meant date wise. Axel took this opportunity to back up his bluff.

"I'll tell you in a little bit. I'm a little busy at the moment." Axel replied.

"Alright, but remember, 7:00." Larxene went back inside and shut the window.

Axel let out a small chuckle and shrugged. "That's my Larxy."

* * *

Tension was in the air as dinner started. They had to sit on the ground in Ayumu's living room, because there were too many people to sit comfortably at the table. Usually, it was only Ayumu and Madoka, but then Hizumi joined them and Hiyono stayed over many nights for dinner. Then you had to add on Roxas and Namine, who had just now joined the three. Needless to say, the table was too small.

"I forgot how good your food is, Narumi-san! I mean, the bento today was amazing, but this is out of this world!" Hiyono exclaimed.

Ayumu was glad. He knew she'd come over if he cooked for her. It seemed that ever since she disappeared, they had gotten closer. Like there was a hole she left, and it couldn't be filled. It was like she had to be apart of his life now, at least until everything went back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be. Finding out you're a clone is not exactly an everyday occurrence. Ayumu was fine listening to Hiyono chatter on, until it came to her unexpected tag-along.

"This is Yuskue. He wants to be a fiction writer someday. He even told me a newspaper published him before he was ten! Best of all, he is modeling a character after me for his book! Isn't that exciting?" Hiyono introduced her mysterious friend.

"It's true. The story wasn't big, but it was a big step for me. As for the model thing, I just feel Hiyono is the best person I know for a main character. She seems happy and simple on the surface, but when you get to know her, she's very complex." Yuskue beamed.

Ayumu gasped. He called her 'Hiyono'? She'd known Ayumu much longer-been through much more with him, but yet, after this short time, they were on first name basis?

(A/n: FYI, in the Japanese language, there are suffixes people use for others, as you know. They're based on age, relation, gender, etc. not using the suffix shows closeness the two share. You can see why Ayumu gets mad at this. On to the story!)

"Mou, Narumi-san, what's wrong? You look a little off." Hiyono started to get up.

"No, no, I'm alright. Let's just get down to business." Ayumu cleared his throat.

He saw concern in her eyes, but he also noted how they changed to an affectionate look when she turned her attention to Yuskue. It used to be that she only used that look for Ayumu, but they had found another. Ayumu was instantly jealous.

"Namine, doesn't that Yuskue guy look familiar?" Roxas whispered.

"No, not really. There are surprisingly a lot of people with his type of profile. Maybe you met someone who looked like him while Sora was traveling. He did see a lot of people before going to sleep." Namine whispered back.

"Hiyono, can I talk to you?" Ayumu stood up, grabbing his dishes.

"Huh? Oh, sure, Narumi-san." Hiyono shrugged. She looked at Yuskue for a minute. With a nod of his head, she left.

"Don't we know you somehow?" Roxas plainly asked the man.

"No, I'm certain you don't know me. But I know both of you very well, Roxas and Namine."

*******************

MUHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Ominous ending!! I love those! Send those reviews coming! Only Tanuokami has been sending reviews. (thanks ^-^) follow that example and write!!!


	10. of dates and conversations

Chapter 10

Well, its time once again for another disclaimer. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I don't own any of the characters, except for the 6 you had never known about until you read my story. Those belong to me. ^-^

And now, with out further ado, let's peek in on Axel and Larxene's date, amongst other things…….

* * *

7:00 rolled around faster than Axel would have liked, but it came nonetheless. He had to find a way to take Larxene out on a date; without her actually finding out it was one. Axel had no idea how to pull this one off.

He had been thinking of possible activities that they could do as a date, but he couldn't come up with anything. The only thing she might actually agree to doing was target practice. If they did that, Axel was sure he would be the target.

"Oh, why not? Larxy likes to user her weapons, and we're spending time together, so it counts." he thought.

"Larxy! You wanna come down here for a while? Axel called.

She sighed and put down whatever she had been doing and headed outside to the flame haired nobody. Axel could tell she was reluctant, but she still came. This was a good sign.

"Yeah? What'd you want? I didn't think we actually had anything planned for tonight." She admitted.

"I was wondering if you'd join me. I'm going to roam around the area." Axel started. He knew that his stalkers were around the area, and be watching them at some point. "And maybe toss in some target practice."

As soon as he said the words 'target practice', Larxene agreed. This would be the first time in a long time Larxene would get to use her weapons. Since no one was getting injured, this was the perfect time to pull out the deadly tools.

"Are you my target?" she smirked.

"No, but I'll show you when we get there." Axel whispered.

They walked for a little while. From time to time, the fan girls made a mistake and stepped on a branch. Or two. Sometimes, Axel thought, they stepped on the twigs just to make sure Axel didn't forget they were there. It was that, or they had _really_ bad stalking techniques.

Axel wondered if Larxene had heard the twigs snapping, but she seemed preoccupied with tossing the kunai at random trees. Then, by some mysterious force, they would fly back to her hands, as if pulled on by a string.

Larxene had mentioned once that she learned it from a girl on a world that had been taken over. She had two brown buns on the top of her head and a giant scroll on her back. Larxene recalled that the girl was the only to distract her more than ten minutes before their world was taken by the nobodies. They had spent the day together, and that's where Larxene learned to recall her weapons to her using something called chakra.

"Although, you should have seen the look on her sparring partner's face when I turned her into a heartless. Let me tell you, I wish I could frame it. He was pretty angry, but I didn't lose any sleep over it." Larxene stopped. "He must have been really good. I don't remember seeing any pupils in his eyes. That's usually a cue for blind people, right?"

Axel shrugged. He smiled at the memory of the day she came back from that trip. She was mad, as usual, but today's anger was focused to her partner Xemnas had placed her with. Poor, poor Demyx. Larxene was definitely not a people person.

Demyx had related to the members at the next meeting afterward, and he had told of Larxene's infamous rage. So the locals knew how to fight. Larxene spewed that she practically took the world singlehandedly.

"But I will never forget the girl. She had some really good weapons, but I couldn't get the majority out of the scroll like she could." Larxene finished.

By that point, they had reached the spot Axel wanted to go to. He stopped and waited for the reminiscing blonde to catch up.

"Hey, I don't get it. Are you really going to be my target for tonight?" Larxene asked.

"Well, as great as _that_ sounds and all, no." Axel mentioned, looking around, as if something was about to attack at any moment.

If anyone on this world would find out about the heartless, it would be those pesky girls. Maybe not that second; but soon enough, anyway.

"We're hunting heartless." Axel curtly stated.

Larxene got a look of confusion on her face.

"Why?" she blurted. "I thought they were on our side."

Axel knew they were. The heartless sided with whoever was the most powerful. The nobodies had taken pretty much over whoever was leading the heartless previously. Only higher up members of the organization knew that information. It seemed they were playing Xemnas's game now.

"Because." Axel stammered. He had to come up with something quick. "These heartless will end up taking over this world before we do. We would like to be on leader's good side, right? Well, we have to beat the heartless to this world."

The explanation seemed good enough for her, and she got ready for the fight. They didn't come at first. In fact, it took quite some time before anything happened. But Axel and Larxene were aware of the heartless' arrival when they heard a shrill scream.

* * *

"What did you need to see me about, Narumi-san?" Hiyono smiled, as the boy brought them just outside of the apartment.

She stopped when he didn't return the smile she gave. He never returned the smiles she showed, but there was something different about him. Something strange was going on, much more than usual. The underdone of seriousness surrounded them, something she was sure she hadn't felt so intense in all her life.

It was a few minutes before Ayumu looked at her from his previous glare at the floor. He was thinking of what to say, and how not to upset her. She was strong, he knew, but some bridges should never be crossed.

"Who exactly is that Yuskue character? How did you meet?" Ayumu felt hesitant about the last question. "Does he have any connection to aniki?"

(A/n: haha, he's asking about the wrong person here. If you've read chapter 75 of spiral, you'll understand the joke.)

Hiyono sighed. Somehow, she figured Ayumu would boil down to asking about his brother. With all Kiyotaka had put him through, it was a wonder he hadn't asked sooner. But there was a plan to follow, and there was no way it was going to be derailed.

Hiyono didn't know if she wanted to inform Ayumu. After all, he seemed to be doing fine without her, and she didn't have to work quite as hard when she wasn't around him. For one thing, she hadn't needed to use her **ahem** trade secret at all lately.

But people were talking to him now. For all she knew, he was even getting confessed to in droves, practically .from what she gathered; everything was as it should have been.

"Do you think something's up? You know, your brother's mysterious plan and all?" Hiyono asked.

"It might." He stated.

He didn't want to lose Hiyono to this guy. Her information was invaluable. Sure, he'd like to know her sources, but as long as she was there, he wouldn't need to. Ayumu couldn't quite place it, but there was something off about that Yuskue character. Ayumu got a bad feeling at the back of his throat when Hiyono would mention him. He didn't like another guy in his spot. Kiyotaka might have stolen is first love, but Ayumu promised himself that he would never be stolen from again.

"Narumi-san?" Hiyono waved.

"Ayumu" he muttered.

"What? I'm afraid I didn't catch that." Hiyono placed a hand to her ear.

"You can call me Ayumu. It's less of a mouthful. It could help in a dangerous situation." He replied.

Hiyono gasped. She didn't think they had gotten so close as to use first names, but she didn't argue. She saw it some how appropriate and was happy that Ayumu finally broke down and told her what she wanted to hear.

"Alright, Ayumu." Hiyono replied, a smile dancing on her lips. "Was there anything else you needed, because I haven't answered your questions yet."

"No, not tonight. I'll talk to you in the morning." Ayumu sighed.

With that, the two returned to the four sitting in the front room of the apartment.

* * *

Alright, we'll clip it off there! Sorry it's been ages, but now that finals are over, I'm going to have plenty of time. Whoopee!!


	11. the spiral design of destiny

Chapter 11

Here's another exciting chapter. Man, its getting long. I'm almost ready to just kill everyone off and call it a day. Ah well. Just read. ^w^' I hope everyone caught the naruto reference I made. There's going to be another in this chapter. Tell me what you think it is.

* * *

Meanwhile, the said four were conversing on the floor. It had been an awkward few minutes, so Hizumi decided to grab a book, mentioning that it would be a while before the 'lovebirds' returned.

"So, now that he's gone, what do you want to talk about?" Yuskue smiled.

"How do you know us already?" Roxas asked.

"Excellent question. You see, I'm not normal. The story goes that I was born out of a single man's DNA matched with a woman to carry me. His name was Yaiba." Yuskue started.

"Then how do you know us? And what do you mean 'was'?" Namine inquired.

"Listen closely, its all here. You see, I travel. Not world to world as you do, but I get around. When I was five, I was already writing for the local paper. You see, Yaiba died, but all who were born of him are geniuses in their own rights. Writing just happens to be mine." Yuskue continued.

He shared of the ill future bestowed upon him. That is, until something happened to stop fate's cruel circle.

"So, what happened? Your future is still your own, isn't it?" Roxas mused.

"They heard the knob of the door turning and knew that they didn't have much time if they wished to keep Ayumu and Hiyono from hearing of the conversation.

"So, I figure you night want to meet again. Yuskue said loud enough for the two coming in to hear.

Yuskue gave a quick smirk to the nobodies, a hug to Hiyono and then exited from the front.

"Desert anyone?" Hiyono blinked.

* * *

Axel and Larxene ran to where the screams were coming from, a short way off. There were three distinct female screeches. Axel knew exactly who the owners of the voices were.

"Oh, thank goodness! Axel's here! He can save us from these things!" Jennifer crawled away from a shadow heartless.

"Ahem." Larxene cleared her throat.

"Oh yeah! He's here with his girlfriend! Aaya smiled. She had just tried kicking her ebony assailant.

"Can you fight? Ouch! That hurt, you stupid little thing!" Yuri cried as the heartless scratched her leg.

It was about to take her heart when Larxene threw her kunai, barely missing the girl's foot.

"Girlfriend?" Larxene asked, turning on Axel. "Is that what they said? For your sake, I really hope they didn't, Axel."

"Um, Larxy? I don't think this is a very good time for this." Axel stepped back.

"Oh" she said. "I think this is a perfect time."

More heartless were converging in the forest, much to Axel's dismay. Looking between the nobodies and heartless, the three tagalongs couldn't figure out what they were running from. But they did exit as fast as they could. Larxene couldn't see the giant heartless shadow behind her, she was so angry.

"You. Used. Me." Larxene came closer, step by step. With each inch she moved, she threw one of her kunai at the redhead closer and closer.

He knew she wouldn't hit him. Her aim was too good for that. However, when a weapon whizzes by your head, all thoughts blank out. The sound of metal piercing the air around you echoes in your brain for a long time. Each of the weapons tossed beside Axel's head pegged a heartless that hadn't converged square in the face.

"Why didn't you leave me out of this?!" Larxene fumed, expertly throwing kunai in increasing numbers, pegging more and more heartless.

Axel was only half worried about the giant heartless standing behind the blond. Her fury was the more pressing of matters at the moment.

"Larxy!! Let me explain!" Axel cried out. With the plead, he fell to the ground, scared out of his wits.

"Don't call me Larxy." She hissed.

A giant shadow loomed over Larxene, but in her fury, she could only see Axel's shaking form. It was about to slash its gigantic claw. One swipe would wipe her out, heart or not. In a desperate move, Axel summoned his own weapon and tossed it at the monster, just missing Larxene's poised body.

"What was that all about?" Larxene growled.

"You had a giant heartless behind you." Axel gulped.

"Of course." She huffed. "I don't see why we don't just go home. It would solve everything.

Larxene leaned down to Axel's level as she was calming down. She figured the girls had to be here to lure the heartless. Nobodies weren't a target for the heartless due to the fact that they didn't actually have hearts.

"I guess I could just kiss her again and run off when she's still shocked, but then she'd kill me for sure." Axel thought.

Larxene backed off, and turned around. He'd had enough fear. For tonight, anyway.

"Look, I just want to take a look at this. The heartless could converge. What if they were somehow commanded to converge against us? I think leader would want to know." Axel raised his hand.

"Fine, but not for too long." Larxene turned.

"Don't want any good parts taken while you're gone, huh?" Axel smiled.

"Larxene didn't turn around from her position. She didn't even say a word. she didn't care about the stupid play. In the end, she and Namine would land the girly roles anyway, so it didn't really matter. She was with Zexion on this one.

Without speaking, the two returned to the café to turn in for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Ayumu awoke with a start. He had a nightmare about Hiyono. She had her hair down and was dressed in clothes made for someone in their early twenties. She looked solemn, and then got on a train. There was a lot more, but Ayumu couldn't remember. The way she looked shocked him. Hiyono could pull of a 20 year old really easily, and she looked to be his type of woman.

Shaking the thought from his head, he sat up. There was a chilling feeling down to his very bones. He shuttered as he got out of his bed into a warmer room.

Ayumu could hear his two guests stumbling out of bed as the tea he made was getting finished. When Roxas bid him good morning, he couldn't wonder why he made the drink in the first place. He didn't drink it much.

There was no school today, so it was the perfect time for Ayumu to talk to Hiyono without any intrusions. He wanted to tell her how he felt about that Yuskue guy. He wanted to know his background. Hiyono was an expert in that kind of field, and as much as he hated to admit it, she seemed to like him.

Maybe he should have made it seem like he liked Hiyono in the first place. It seemed to work for Light, or whoever the character in Hizumi's latest manga craze was.

Ayumu got out the pans because he knew Hiyono would be hungry and expecting food. Right on the button, Hiyono was at the door smiling, with a little wave.

She wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary of a long, pleated blue skirt and a ruffled white sweater. What had interested Ayumu in the reporter's appearance was what Hiyono was hiding behind her back.

"It must be pretty small, if she can hold it with just one hand." Ayumu thought, trying to figure out what she was carrying with logic.

"Hey Ayumu! I brought some breakfast! Or should I say Yusuke did? He made some for me, and I was wondering if you might want to share it with me. It's so you can take a break from making me delicious meals all the time." Hiyono smiled.

"She revealed a lunch box with a couple of breakfast boxes in a bag. One for her and Ayumu, and another for Roxas and Namine. Hiyono stepped into the apartment and set her surprise down.

"I wasn't sure why he packed a bento for Roxas-kun and Namine-chan. I suppose he was just being nice." Hiyono mused. "Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's go eat this in the park! I know just the place!"

They left the apartment with a note on the spare bento for the nobodies to find.

* * *

Roxas heard Hiyono walk in, but he didn't catch the specifics of the conversation. Namine was just getting up, wearing one of the new outfits sent by Kiyotaka. It was a white fleece sweater with a turtle neck and some blue jeans and flats to match.

Hey. How are you this morning?" Roxas sleepily smiled.

"Good." Namine replied, grabbing a cup to get a drink. She looked equally as tired as Roxas was.

They had spent the night doing some research on Yaiba and the blade children. There wasn't much, but from what they gathered, Yuskue was telling the truth.

Namine poured some of the dejected tea into a pair of cups as Roxas checked out the bento.

Inside had a pretty typical breakfast. Enough for two people, Roxas guessed. What was really interesting though, was the note on top of the rice, in a bag. Roxas only had to guess it was from Yuskue.

"is that for us?" Namine rubbed her eyes.

"yeah." Roxas picked up the hurriedly written note.

The blue eyed boy began reading from the paper left by the mysterious writer.

_"Roxas and Namine; I have been informed by Kiyotaka that you must soon begin your roles. We will meet at the shumari station at 1:00 this afternoon. Tell no one._

_ P.S. Namine, don't worry about writing that play of yours; if you do your part well, we will provide one."_

The two looked at each other. It was already 10:00.

"Well, we might as well go. Maybe we can learn something important." Roxas decided. "I'm going to head over to the market with Hizumi. We need to pick up something to eat tonight."

Namine nodded, but there was something tugging at the back of her mind. There was something that was going to happen, but she didn't quite know what.

* * *

Alrighty! That's the end. We're almost there, people. Stick with me.


	12. Larxene's Dream

Howdy everyone!! Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all! I know it'll be after the holiday season before I post this, but it is Christmas day, so I'm going to be festive anywho. Hope you all are enjoying the story. Please review to tell me so.

* * *

Larxene was having the dream again. She hadn't had it in a while, so she guessed she was just due to have it again.

Every time, it started the same. A blond haired mother left her five year old daughter for some competition in France. Over the years, Larxene came to know that it was her somebody.

It was bad weather in the first place- one a person should never have to travel in. however, they had already left their dear child, so there seemed to be no turning back. After the crash landing of their plane, the pilot and the husband of Larxene's somebody were dead. Night was approaching and the wind blew harder. The somebody had a strong will to survive, if only so see her daughter one more time.

She wandered through the barren wilderness of the icy mountain peak. The only thought that ran through her head was the hope of once again being reunited with her only daughter. The blonde somebody found a cave by a clump of trees. The cave was the only way she could have been able to treat her wounds. Larxene wanted to call out to her, to stop her from time to time. But it would not have done anything, no matter her wants.

Inside the cozy cave lay a batch of heartless. They laid in wait for some unsuspecting heart to meander by. The woman built a small fire. The small light cast shadows for the heartless to hide in. the somebody was completely unaware of the danger that awaited her. She would never know.

They attacked! Each small shadow gathered on, climbing over each other to be the first to reach the pure heart that resided in their victim. They almost couldn't hold it for the power it contained. Power that came from the two most precious people in the woman's life, and her love for them. But after a long and hard battle with the many creatures, the woman lost consciousness and fell into darkness. The heartless had won.

The body disappeared-as they always did. Her dying words were blurred. The only thing Larxene could hear was "Na-".

Of course, this was where Larxene began her memories as a nobody, but her brain still played out the scene. Larxene remembered that she woke on the spot where the woman had her heart stolen. It was only a few minutes that she was able to begin to figure out who, what and where she was. Marluxia was quick to enter into the cold cavern and guide the new nobody to where she would become the first female member of what would become organization 13.

Larxene awoke with a shudder. Axel was gone, for goodness sake, and Najika peeked into the doorway of her room. Najika was dressed in a black skirt and a long sleeved blue shirt. There was a small white collar on the blouse, and on the collar lay a small silver pin with a spoon emblazoned upon it.

"Hello, Larxene-chan. Are you already awake? I hope I didn't disturb you." Najika smiled, putting a small woven basket on Axel's bed.

"What's that all for?" Larxene asked, still living in her dream.

It's the anniversary of my parent's deaths. I'm going to visit their graves today with daiskue-kun. We're also going to see sora-sempai today. He's buried in the same graveyard." Najika gave a sad smile.

Larxene had never been to a real graveyard before. The only thing similar to it was the graveyard in the Halloween world with an extremely tall skeleton man. She really hoped all graveyards weren't like the one she had seen there.

Before she could stop herself, she asked, "May I go too?"

If Larxene had a heart, it would stop. Perhaps what was there did freeze for a moment. Larxene was so shocked at herself; she almost didn't hear najika's polite okay.

Najika turned and grabbed the basket. Before she went out the door, she turned back around. "oh, by the way, Axel-kun went into the forest. He said he'd be back by the end of the day."

Larxene didn't think much on this small note, but she would remember it later.

*******************

Axel was up early, getting in some real target practice. He had mentioned where he'd be to Najika, and walked out. He dressed in his organization cloak just for the fun of it, and headed to the outside world that was still damp with the morning dew.

He was furious. At himself, the world, the heartless; anything. Axel knew he just needed to release a bit of everything he held inside. There were no more sunsets on the tower to share sea salt ice cream and corny jokes with Roxas and Namine. He liked hanging out with Larxene, but Axel really missed his friends.

He had worked up a sweat and kept pounding away. The though of Roxas and Namine had stirred something up in his memory. Namine hadn't always been with them, but she was there recently, right? Or was he just imagining things. Being as much of an underling to Xemas as she was, Axel was surprised she ever got to hang out with him and Roxas.

But she _had _always been with them, right? Axel stopped for a minute. But the more he thought, the more he was confused. He and Roxas always hung out with someone else. They were the three amigos. But Namine kept getting sketchier and sketchier by the minute. Axel had to run back. Larxene would know if he ever hung out with Namine. He hoped.


	13. a grave visit and visitor

Well well, people, lucky thirteen. This chapter was really for a friend of mine, who is a big Xion fan. I, myself, am not. However, I'd like to thank Xion a little. She brought Riku into my story. ^w^

* * *

It was 11:30 and Hiyono and Ayumu were enjoying the weather. They had just reached the park and were sitting down to eat.

"Hiyono, I'm not going to beat around the bush. How did you and Yuskue meet? I don't know, but there's just this weird feeling I get around him." Ayumu started.

"he's apparently one of the blade children." She said, mouth full. " or at least that's what I gather. He usually gets really tense when anyone mentions them."

"hm." Ayumu thought, getting some breakfast for himself. He really did get a weird feeling around yuskue, but not one he usually got around blade children. In fact, if there were anything nearer, it'd be the way he felt around Roxas and Namine.

"well, don't get mad, but I was frustrated the day Namine-chan and Roxas-kun came. Later that night, I heard from a source that kiyotaka was around." Hiyono cleared her throat.

"aniki? And you didn't tell me?" Ayumu blurted.

"please, Ayumu, hear me out." Hiyono regained her composure. "I haven't actually seen him yet. But he's orchestrating something. Anyway, I met up at the designated spot only to find Mitzuki, Yuki and Yuskue. They've been…..interesting."

Ayumu sat back down, not quite untensed. They had finished breakfast and sat in awkward silence, watching the world go by. Ayumu was the first to speak.

"did that food taste strange to you at all?"

"no, although there was a bit of an aftertaste I wasn't used to. You know Ayumu, I'm feeling really sleepy. Good night." Hiyono yawned and fell asleep atop Ayumu.

"what? What are you doing?" Ayumu hissed, looking to see if anyone had noticed them. He began to feel a little drowsy himself and fell back to the soft earth.

* * *

At exactly 11:35, the doorbell rang to Ayumu's apartment. Since Roxas and Hizumi were still at the supermarket, Namine ran up from her book and answered the door. Standing before namine was a girl in a black cloak Namine knew too well.

"hello, Namine. It's _so _nice to see you again. Are you ready to let go of Roxas and Axel?" the girl darkly muttered.

"ah, I see you're back to take my place, aren't you?" Namine replied.

The dark haired girl stepped into the apartment and called her keyblade out. "I'm sorry, Namine, but I've got to dispose of you. Leader's orders."

To say the least, Namine was surprised. She ran to the table and knocked it over, to hide behind. The girl hurled her keyblade and barely missed the blonde.

"I'm sorry Namine. I've got to do this. I don't really want to, but Xemnas promised that if I did this job, he'd let me get back to spending time with Roxas and Axel." The girl called out.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed something more than that small room at castle oblivion! Even though I don't have a heart, I was sure I felt happiness whenever Roxas or Axel were around. They were my first friends." Namine whispered at the end.

"well, they were mine as well. I'm sorry, Namine." The girl looked away.

Namine sighed. She hoped it would never come to this. But, she'd had her time out of solitary confinement. A moment of great pain washed over her as she realized Roxas and Axel would soon forget her. Since they had connections to Sora, Namine had been able to experiment. Axel was a bit of a stretch, but there was the time he and Sora fought in castle oblivion, and that was good enough.

Namine had made Axel and Roxas forget about the girl standing before her for a little while. It wasn't anything out of spite; infact, Namine felt she and the nobody could be friends. But they both couldn't be around at the same time. No, Namine's time was up. She was going to leave the same she'd arrived-alone.

But Roxas would have to finish Kiyotaka's plan with this girl. It wasn't like Kiyotaka was listening when she tried to explain, so Namine convinced herself everything would end up alright. As soon as he remembered the girl, Roxas would forget about Namine anyway. The visitor closed her eyes and slashed at namine with the same kind of keyblade Roxas had started out with.

Namine felt herself slowly being lifted out of the apartment or something. She felt lighter than air, and slowly disintegrating by the minute. There was no way she could tell where she would end up, be it home in twilight town, or oblivion itself. The thought scared her, and yet, she was ready.

"good bye then. Take care of Roxas for me, would you, Xion?" Namine whispered.

She thought she felt something wet at her eyes. They turned out to be tears, once deemed impossible for nobodies, but lo and behold, it was happening. In a moment, she was gone.

* * *

It was quiet at the graveyard (A/N: kinda fitting, with namine and all, dontcha think?) the graves were clean, with food on a few of them. The three stopped at Sora's grave first, but Larxene excused herself to look around. She never knew the guy, and it seemed like he meant a lot to the both of them.

Larxene knew she would never share the fate that the hundreds of people buried here had. if she did die, she'd simply disappear, never to be missed. When at oblivion castle, she had seen several hundreds of dusks get sent to oblivion, and even a person or two, but it never occurred to her what it would be like. She knew she was doomed to fade back into darkness at some time, but she wasn't going to go out silently. And it wasn't going to be anytime soon.

She eventually found herself in front of two headstones. They seemed to be calling her. There was a picture of a blonde woman and her husband decked out in chef's apparel. Larxene picked it up to get a better view, but then quickly dropped it once she realized who it was. The woman was from her dreams- it was her somebody.

* * *

Najika spent some time at Sora's grave. She wore a smile, but inside, her heart hurt a little. After all, he was her first love. She gave some time for Daisuke to be alone with his brother after she went. She would go see her father's grave next to her mother's empty coffin. They had never found the body.

While she was still sitting by Sora, there were several emotions that welled up inside her. Love, loss, regret and peace all some how lived inside of her. She didn't cry out his name anymore

She didn't cry anymore when she was alone with her thoughts. She had a hole in her heart that seemed would take forever to fill up. She liked Daiskue, but as they say, you can never forget your first love. After a half an hour or so, Najika left, letting Daiskue say hello. She walked instantly over to her parent's grave site. Daiskue accompanied her before sitting down with Sora. Together, they walked hand in hand to the gravesite.

"daiskue, thank you so much for coming with me today." Najika whispered.

"no problem." Daiskue wrapped her into a hug, gently pecking her on the cheek as he did so.

She cried a few tears on his shoulder before regaining her composure and heading off to see her parents (A/N: I know that's not exactly how it probably is in the book, but I needed to kill two birds with one stone. Haha, I made a death joke in a graveyard scene…..*sigh*).

Najika stopped for a moment when she spotted Larxene standing at her parent's grave. The picture had fallen to the ground. Nothing moved.

Larxene turned when she heard Najika coming. Everything had come together in this one pivotal moment. But Najika would never know that her kitchen guest was indeed the nobody of her dead mother.

* * *

My my, that was a long chapter. I hope you people enjoy. I'm practically killing my fingers to type this, so please review!!!!


	14. Spoilers and Riku

Hey, I'm back once again. We're going to have a couple of guests in this chapter, so lets get going. FYI, this is important. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT. Anything you read that ruins the story of spiral for you, please don't blame me. You continued to read.

*******************

Axel ran back to the Diner. Heartless almost never went near there, so, it would be a good spot to think. He wanted to look at everything and remember the girl he had forgotten. He knew now without a shadow of a doubt that Namine had just started hanging out with he and Roxas. Usually, she was confined to the white room in that creepy mansion in Twilight Town, he'd remembered.

Axel desperately searched. There had to be something, anything that would indicate the forgotten friend. He stopped for a moment, sweating and panting. He thought for a moment and memories came rushing at him.

The girl's name was Xion, and she was the memories that were leaking out of Namine's work on Sora. But then, why was she in the organization? In a matter of minutes, the tables turned. Axel could remember every detail with Xion, but almost nothing of the blonde witch.

* * *

Hiyono awoke, sitting on the all too familiar bed at Mitzuki, Yuki and Yuskue's base home. There was another person in the room, but she was still a little too woozy to realized who the visitor was.

"hello, my little actress. I trust you slept well?" the voice said.

She looked up at him. Ayumu? No, Ayumu had no clue who she really was. the voice definetly belonged to no other than Kiyotaka Narumi. Her employer. She had no need to pretend to be Hiyono Yuizaki when she was alone with him.

"I heard you wanted to see me, Tsutsugi Naoko. (A/N: sorry about the name. they never actually give one for Hiyono, so I'm going with the thing at the top of my head. Do go with it. Thanks.) You know you could have just called me using your 'trade secret'." Kiyotaka smirked. "well, I'm here now. Would you like to be clued into what I have planned, or do you feel you're good enough to play Hiyono by ear?"

"I'm fine." She huffed.

"is there anything you wish for?" Kiyotaka leaned towards her.

The question caught her off guard. His younger brother had just asked her the same thing only a few weeks ago. She didn't know what she would want, but held her tongue.

"you don't need to tell me now. I can see you'll need some time. Don't worry, all is going to plan." Kiyotaka purred.

With his soothing voice, Naoko would be put to sleep, if she were really Hiyono.

"before you leave to do something in your precious little 'plan', when is this gig done?" Naoko eyed kiyotaka.

"soon, my dear, very, very soon. I'm sure your father and twin siblings will be thrilled to hear you're going to be joining them on the army base in Germany soon." Kiyotaka hummed.

She was shocked. Naoko hadn't seen her family in what seemed like ages. Hearing that she'd see them again soon refocused her. She guessed that was the key to what kiyotaka was doing.

He smirked at her, getting up from his chair.

"where are you going?" Naoko asked.

"to see a certain clone of mine. Would you care to join me?" Kiyotaka held out a hand.

"how is he?" Naoko reached out her hand.

"fine. A little irritated, but mostly fine." Kiyotaka replied.

"take me to him." Naoko ordered.

* * *

Roxas got home shortly after the sudden appearance of Xion. She had everything in order by time he had arrived. Roxas had run home, ahead of Hizumi. He had something that could be considered a very large brain fart just as they were checking out. He had suddenly remembered Xion, and wanted to see if she was really there.

Consequentally, he had forgotten Namine.

"Xion!" Roxas exclaimed, seeing his friend.

"hey Roxas!" Xion replied, heading toward the keyblade wielder. She missed his kind words and bright smile. There was a tinge of regret about namine, but what was in the past was in the past. The memory witch had served her purpose in Xemnas's plan, so it was her time to go. There was absolutely nothing Xion could do. So, she'd end up feeling bad about Namine, but she had wanted-no, needed her friends. Never in her short existence had Xion felt so alone before now.

Xion couldn't take that again. She didn't know if she had sent Namine to oblivion or wherever, but she couldn't think about that right now. She just hoped Namine would forgive her.

"what are you doing here? Are you on a mission from Xemnas too? I seemed to have forgotten what I was doing here, other than helping out Kiyotaka Narumi for leader." Roxas explained, not completely understanding that it was only because of Namine that he was here.

"yeah, I did. But I was told as soon as I was done with my job that I needed to help you with yours. Leader told me that you'd hear the name 'Namine'. Don't be alarmed, but that's just what I was told I would be called." Xion explained.

"that's right, I almost forgot." Roxas smiled.

* * *

"it's done. Roxas and Axel…..they don't remember anything about me." Namine Sighed.

She slumped down and began to cry. Everything that she had done or felt- it was over now. Everything was as it should have been. To say the least, she was happy to be back in her old room, adjacent to her white drawing room in twilight town. It was full of pictures she had drawn. They had been drawn only a while ago, but now they felt ancient and unknown.

Namine heard a knock at the door, and wiped away the fresh tears that poured out of her eyes. She had to be presentable for whomever Ansem had sent for her.

"hey Namine, can I come in?" Riku appeared at the door way, carrying a plate of food. His silver hair hung over the black blindfold and sat at his shoulders. He was wearing an organization cloak, as always.

"you've been crying again, haven't you?" riku sat the plate on her nightstand and welcomed himself to sit on her bed. "what's wrong, Nam?"

"nothing, you're very paranoid. Besides, how can you tell, with that blindfold infront of your eyes?" namine playfully jeered.

"I can tell. Can you tell me, or is it more Ansem junk?" Riku replied.

He brushed a tear she hadn't gotten to yet away from her face and repeated the question. "what's wrong, Namine."

"it hurts, Riku. I know I don't have a heart, but for some reason it hurts right in here." Namine placed a hand where her heart should have been.

"Nam, what have I always told you? You can still feel even though you don't think you have a heart." Riku recited.

"but I don't-" Namine argued.

Riku placed his hands on her shoulders, sitting an arm's length apart from her.

"you do." Riku smirked.

Namine hugged the blind keyblade warrior, who was shocked and still for a moment. He then wrapped her into his arms and returned the hug. They stayed like that for a while, Riku waiting for Namine to get all of the salty tears out of her system.

* * *

Alright, we're going to stop it there! More to come!


	15. Shocking revelation

Disclaimer: sorry it's been a while, people, I just lost a bunch of my stuff, so half of my chapter I had typed got lost. So now I'm just doing it again. Ah well. Let's just get to it, shall we? I don't own, so don't try to pin it on me. Also, avoid telemarketers at all costs. Believe me, they're actually pretty evil.

* * *

"Larxene! Larxene!" Axel burst through the doors of Fujita diner.

"She's not here, Axel." Jennifer, now with blue hair, simmered.

"I can't deal with this right now. I have things to do." Axel hurriedly replied.

"You don't get it. She turned our hair _blue_!! It's all your fault! If you didn't go out with Larxene, she wouldn't be jealous of us!" Aaya whined.

"Fine, just leave me alone." Axel sighed. "Well, just think how much more you'll be able to match your outfits."

The girls gasped at Axel's comment, but quite frankly, he didn't care. Jennifer, Aaya and Yuri were shocked. They weren't used to being rejected so coldly. After realizing Axel was gone out of their lives forever, they headed out to campus. There had to be someone else out there who would play their cat and mouse games.

Larxene was nowhere to be seen in the diner, so Axel ran to the kitchen. If Fujita was sitting around, it was probably going to be there. As luck would have it, Axel was absolutely correct. Sitting in the corner was Fujita, reading a magazine of some sorts. Looking up, Fujita saw axel and put the magazine down.

"Did you say you were looking for that blond chick?" Fujita yawned.

"Of course I did. Did you see her?" Axel noted, frustrated.

"Yeah. She tagged along with Najika and Daiskue on their trip to the graveyard." Fujita rubbed his chin for a second. " They should be back anytime now."

"Thanks." Axel turned and went back to his room as Fujita continued to read his magazine.

*******************

"Larxene chan? Are you alright? What's wrong?" Najika walked to the stunned nobody.

"Are you alright? You're kind of pale." Daiskue added.

Larxene wasn't alright. Her mind was whirring inside her skull. Impossible. She'd be older if her other were really Najika's mother. But, the dreams, her memory; it was al there. Who knew what would happen. Larxene didn't know why she found this revolution so shocking, but it made her freeze.

"Let's go home." Larxene whispered.

"I agree. You need something homemade to eat." Najika picked up the picture and returned it to its place with a promise to comeback next week.

"Maybe homemade wasn't the best word to pick." Larxene thought.

When they got home, Axel was waiting for them.

"Larxy, I have to tell you something." He solemnly looked at the girl.

"Yeah, there are some things I need to tell you too." She replied similarly.

When they got upstairs, Axel closed the door. She sat on her bed, and he his. The small room seemed like an open plain in the silence of the moment. The two nobodies looked at each other, willing the other to talk first.

"I found my somebody." Larxene swallowed. "Of all the places."

Axel barely heard her, she spoke so softly. He could tell she had really been taken aback by this small fact. He waited for a moment so she could begin talking again. Axel didn't know if she would have anything else to say, but he waited. She was a very different Larxene from that at the beginning of the story. He wondered if the change were permanent. If it were….

"my somebody" she scoffed. "she's Najika's mom. Or it was, before she was offed by a bunch of heartless. It's sad, really."

Axel waited for her to finish again. With Larxene acting the way she was, he probably wouldn't have any reprimands for waiting. Unfortunately, Larxene hadn't changed as much as Axel had thought.

"so, what exactly were you waiting on? I'm done, so go ahead and tell me what you wanted to say before I lose interest and leave. We are leaving this world as soon as possible." Larxene went close to Axel's face, sneering.

"aren't you going to tell Najika?" Axel looked at Larxene.

"she doesn't need to know. Besides, does she seem like the kind of person to believe the story we'd tell her?" Larxene stood away from Axel.

"touché. Anyway, do you remember Xion? For some reason, I remembered her, as if I had forgotten her during all this time." Axel stated.

"yeah. She's that weird little keyblade warrior you and Roxas always hang out with. what about her?" Larxene flippantly replied.

"I thought so." Axel commented.

Najika came in to the room, disrupting the two. "does anyone want some dinner? I know Larxene wasn't feeling too well, so I made this." The plate she held was hot and aromatic. The nobodies nodded and followed Najika to the serving area for some dinner.

* * *

Hiyono and kiyotaka entered into an empty hall. Their footsteps reverberated with every drop of their feet. It was the only sound that accompanied their long journey to Ayumu's holding place. Thoughts of every sort floated through Naoko's mind. She stopped them and tried to channel her little sister, where she got Hiyono's character. Taking a deep breath, she stood behind Kiyotaka, who had just reached the needed door.

Kiyotaka entered a code into a keypad, promising the girl he'd be in the room after a few minutes. Naoko was a little woozy, but she kept her balance and walked to where Ayumu was sitting, his head down and hands closed.

"What happened to us? Why are we here?" Ayumu asked, his head staying down.

"I don't know." Naoko choked.

"It was Aniki. He set us up. This is a part of his plan I didn't expect." Ayumu growled.

On one side of the gray room where the two sat, lay an even smaller booth, where Mitzuki and Yuki were watching the two. Yuskue was on his way to pick up the nobodies. Everything was going according to plan. Kiyotaka had set it up so that they didn't know Naoko was in on the plan, and vise versa.

"you know, if we had hearts, this might be a touching scene." Yuki scoffed.

"might be." Mitzuki agreed.

*******************

Roxas and Xion started for the Shumari station so that they'd get to the meeting point in time. Xion was surprised at how Namine's powers had affected Roxas. Although she'd been able to fool Roxas, Xion was a little worried about the people of this world who knew Namine. They looked enough alike, but she'd have to be lucky.

Apparently Yuskue knew what Namine looked like. The two nobodies were met with a confused Yusuke as they reached the platform. Xion took a deep breath and began to talk. As much as Xemnas would have liked, Namine couldn't erase herself from everyone's mind.

"Hello Roxas, Namine. You look different today." Yusuke commented.

"oh yeah, I got my hair done earlier. I thought I'd get a new look, you know?" Xion chuckled.

"when? You look the same as always, Namine." Roxas interjected.

"would you excuse us for a minute?" Xion smiled and pulled Roxas aside. "alright, thanks for getting the whole 'Namine' thing. Now, he's seen someone who he is convinced is me, and she looks different. Don't worry, it's all in the mission. Go along with it, would you?"

"yeah." Roxas nodded.

"well, let's get going." Yuskue smiled. He started walking to one of the trains and the two nobodies followed him.

* * *

well, that's it. I hope you guys all enjoyed it!! We're really going to get the ball rolling here soon.


	16. There goes the clone

Chapter 16!!!! Whooo!!!!! I feel so accomplished!!!! Any who, I want to get the ball rolling here people! Let's just know I don't own anything and enjoy!

* * *

After they had eaten Najika's delicious food, Larxene and Axel were in better spirits. Larxene was able to look at Najika now without images of her somebody coming to mind.

The memories of Xion did not come back all at once for both Axel and Larxene. Over the next few days, random shards of memories fixed themselves to the minds of the nobodies.

Everyday they didn't work, Axel and Larxene headed out to the forest. Larxene would have her target practice, and Axel would watch the heartless, and see how they were able to come together. Life continued on until Halloween. Axel was getting restless because they would soon be dolling parts out for the organization play back at home.

Axel didn't want a repeat of last year.

"hey, Larxy, would you mind helping me? I want to get this figured out before we leave, and we've gotta get home before the good parts are taken." Axel noted, holding a squirming shadow heartless.

"speaking of which, when are we going home?" Larxene stopped throwing her kunai.

"as soon as I figure this out."

"well, I don't know." Larxene sighed, wanting to get out of helping Axel. "I have missed my soap today. I might crush the little thing."

The heartless stopped moving completely, due to Larxene's threat.

"thanks, Larxy. I needed my little patient to remain still-ah! That's it!" Axel exclaimed.

"what?" Larxene ran over. "you actually found what makes the heartless tick?"

"yeah! And it's something you wouldn't believe!!" Axel cried. "in fact its……"

* * *

"hiyono. I'm sorry. I can't beat Aniki, and now you're here too." Ayumu mumbled.

"no, don't worry. I'm here now, that's all that matters." She replied.

Ayumu kept his head down. Hiyono didn't know what they did to him, but maybe it was more of something he did to himself. He seemed to be like he was when she first met him. Unconfident and sullen. Kiyotaka walked in, staring with cold dark eyes to his playing pieces. Everything would be in place soon. Once Namine and Roxas arrived, they could begin the final phase of his plan. In the end, he would be the victor.

"what do you want, Aniki." Ayumu coldly asked.

He said nothing. Nothing at all. The only thing Kiyotaka Narumi did at that very moment was that he pulled up a chair and sat by his estranged 'little brother.'

"onii-san. Please, intrigue me. What is your grand master plan? You seemed to have changed it on me." Ayumu looked up to stare at his brother square in the eyes.

"you shall see." Kiyotaka was about to say more, but there was a knock on the heavy metal door.

Yuskue walked in with Roxas and a girl Naoko had never seen before. She looked enough like Namine, but instantly, she knew it wasn't. she wondered what Kiyotaka would do about this twist in the plan.

"Namine-chan, did you cut your hair?" Naoko asked, intrigued. Xion looked shocked, but only for a second. Her face then relaxed as she simply answered 'yes'.

Mitzuki brought in more chairs as Yuskue quickly left the cramped room.

"now that everyone is here, we may begin. Namine, Roxas. You noticed Yuskue wasn't quite human, didn't you?" Kiyotaka smirked.

"yeah, I remembered I had seen him before." Roxas Recalled.

"he's a nobody, isn't he." Ayumu stood up. His eyes were dull and blank.

"very good, Ayumu." Kiyotaka replied. "I found them in the back of Yaiba's corporation one day, lying amongst dark beasts. You see, since you ruined my initial plan, Ayumu-"

the dull look in Ayumu's eyes deepened, and his breathing became shallow. He bent over, trying to catch his breath.

"AYUMU!" Naoko rushed to his side. "Look Kiyotaka. You promised me one thing earlier! I want you to grant me that right now. Remember when you first hired me and we did some tests? Well, Ayumu and I match. You can give some of my organs to him. Help your clone now!"

"very well, I was hoping you would say this. Your human organs should get rid of Ayumu's special DNA." Kiyotaka mused, grabbing Ayumu's other side, rushing him down to the convenient hospital on hand. Because he knew this might happen, everything was all ready. Ayumu was getting worse.

* * *

Namine awoke with sunshine pouring in through the window. She had a dream that Ayumu went into shock or something. She sat up in her bed. Last night's hurt over Roxas had turned her numb to every other emotion.

There was a knock at the door. She suspected it might be Riku, but she was surprised to see Diz instead. He stood regally in front of her, decked out in a white lab coat with a neatly trimmed beard, instead of his regular red outfit.

"Namine, your presence is requested at breakfast."

He was curt, but that was the way they communicated. She got around and headed to the dining area. The usually threadbare table had some foods on it for Riku and Diz. Namine could eat if she liked, but rarely did. She ate in her room whilst working on what ever project Diz had her on that day. Riku would usually bring something in to her drawing room after dinner so she could take a break.

She loved those breaks. They would end up sitting on the sofa, talking for hours about everything. It would always end up the same way. She'd fall asleep on his shoulders, and he would gently carry her to her bedroom and tuck her in. upon its mention, she'd promise that she'd do better next time, but it always failed. Riku didn't mind.

She would still sit on the couch when he was gone, but she'd have her sketchpad out, to work on a picture. For months, she'd been slaving over a picture for Roxas. But it never turned out the way she wanted. She began on a new one for Riku, and the pen seemed to move on it's own.

When Namine got to the dining room she was surprised to see King Mickey sitting at the head of the table, opposite of Diz. Riku was wearing sweats and had a towel around his shoulders. She guessed he had just gotten done with a shower after his morning exercise. He sat down next to an empty seat, motioning for Namine to join him.

"did you need me for anything in specific today, Diz?" Namine mumbled before sitting next to Riku.

"yes, but it's not my request. I'll let him take care of that." Diz motioned to the mouse king.

"well Namine, you see, I do need your help." King Mickey admitted. "it's a job for both you and Riku."

* * *

Hmmm, what could the job be? I guess you'll have to wait for the next update for that. XD


	17. plan set in motion

All right, everyone! Chapter 17! Wow, this is getting long…. but I like it. 3 anywho, those of you who have stuck around long enough will know I'm too broke to own anything. At least I'm hoping there are some of you who have stuck around…. ah well.

Axel and Larxene burst through the diner door, breathing heavily. All who were in the all stopped their conversations to look at the incomers. Axel spotted Jennifer and her two 'friends' sitting with a new boy with golden locks. The blue hadn't gone out of the girl's hair yet, so they were much darker than it usually was.

"Great, you're here. Go take these over to table five." Fujita passed some plates onto Axel and Larxene's hands.

They didn't really mind, but that's because they knew they would never have to do it again. Today was the day they were going home. Home- a word Larxene didn't think she would ever wish to get to.

Larxene was considering taking over the world, but something in Axel didn't want her to do it. This had been their home for a little while, so Axel didn't feel too inclined to let it fall to waste. However, there were some he didn't mind that would become heartless had they let the heartless consume the core of the world.

When Daiskue locked the door for the night, Larxene and Axel approached Najika in the kitchen. She was sweeping, but she stopped to hear what the two had to say.

"Well, it looks like we're going to catch a ride tonight. Thanks for having us, but it's time we left." Axel said, leaning on the cabinet.

"So soon? Well, I guess it's a good thing. I wouldn't want you two to miss fashion week on my account." Najika replied. She didn't really know when fashion week was, but since Akane hadn't talked about it yet, it must not have happened yet. "I feel as though we could have been really good friends had you stayed, but I wish you all the best!"

Larxene had thought the farewell would blow over much different, but she was excited. Axel had figured out why the heartless acted the way they did. Whoever ruled over the heartless for the time being must have called for them to get stronger, or something. They had learned to converge as a result. To tell the truth, Larxene didn't care. The uprising was so small; it wouldn't affect the organization's plans.

But most of all, Larxene was ready to be home. Axel was also anxious to return to the castle. Surely Xion had the play finished by now. If he could pull a few strings, he'd have the lead part for sure. After a few more minutes, the two went upstairs and donned their black organization coats.

Larxene nodded to Axel, who summoned up a black hole. The redhead stepped through. Larxene was about to step through, when she took a look around. No one else would know, but she decided this world would hold a soft spot in her memories. She would recall everything that happened in this world to herself only.

"Well," she smiled to herself, "I suppose the others can know about the blue hair dye."

Roxas and Xion waited outside the small operation room with Kiyotaka. He sat opposite them on the little benches by the walls. It was silent, but not exactly an awkward one. A faint humming noise could be heard in the background due to the lights. Ayumu and Hiyono were under the care of some personnel Kiyotaka had called in. he didn't seem to be worried. Roxas took a moment of relief from this, but he was tense. They weren't out of the forest yet.

"So, Kiyotaka, I guess things didn't really work out the way you planned." Roxas drummed up conversation.

"On the contrary. I was hoping this would happen. I'm sure Hizumi is having a similar meltdown as we speak. Except but he doesn't have a Naoko waiting for him." Kiyotaka replied.

"Naoko?" Xion asked.

"Oh, my apologies. You see; Naoko is the woman you know as Hiyono Yuizaki. She is only an actress for my purposes. To say I wouldn't have imagined this ending though…." Kiyotaka tapered off.

"So, what were they made of that made them break down like that?" Roxas stood and stretched.

"Ayumu and Hizumi are clones of Yaiba and myself. My mother cloned me and Yaiba played around with his own genes. Unfortunately, technology hasn't quite caught up with the ideas of man. Their cellular makeup is quite unstable, I'm afraid." Kiyotaka too, stood up. "I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have. Namine, it's time to go."

Kiyotaka turned to leave. Xion gulped before standing up. There was no way she could do what Namine could. After all, Xion was just a cluster of memories. She could do Roxas' portion of the plan better. It was too late now. Namine was gone as per Xemnas' orders. Xion would have to face the consequences of her choice.

"Are you coming, Namine?" Kiyotaka coolly called.

"Yeah, just one minute." Xion replied. She turned to Roxas. "Look, Xemnas wanted a nobody of Ayumu. With a mind like his, the organization would be unstoppable. However, you've got to protect him, do you get me? Make sure his heart is not touched."

"Got it." Roxas nodded. He gave a smile to Xion as she ran to meet Kiyotaka.

Right on cue, one of the nurses in a nearby room screamed. No doubt the heartless had begun their attack. It was time. Roxas bolted into place. Roxas was about to get into the operating room, when he hit a blockade. It seemed as if someone had already placed a barrier around Ayumu and Naoko's room.

"Good" Roxas thought. "This will make my job a lot easier."

"It's about time. I've arranged for a magic barrier to be placed around the operating room, but that's about all I can manage. Since that job is done, you both can focus on your own. Let's go." Mickey sternly stated.

Namine touched the air as a portal of darkness expanded. Riku was back in his organization cloak. As he stepped towards the darkness, he grasped Namine's hand. She looked at him and nodded. They didn't have much longer together. Quickly, they stepped into the darkness. When they stepped back in to the light, Riku could hear several heartless and two keyblades.

"Two?" He thought. "King Mickey only carries one keyblade."

Namine gasped when se saw the bearer of the extra keyblade. Together, Namine and Riku simply stated, "It's Roxas."

King Mickey and Roxas were fighting the many heartless that had converged on the side of the room. Riku quickly led Namine to the door, as she still had a job to do. Once she got to the door, he jumped back into action, Switching places with King Mickey now, Riku and Roxas fought side by side. If any heartless got past them, Mickey would destroy them before they arrived in the operating room.

Namine reached the elevator as it came back down. She calmly entered the small box and pushed the button that would take her to the top floor.

"Alright" Namine breathed. "Let's do this."  
********************

All right! It's been a while, but I'm back!


	18. it's all up to them, now

Well, here it is people, chapter 18. I would resume making funny openings, but it's been a long story, and I still have a little bit to go. So, keep reading. Thanks!

"Where did you two run off to? We're short a script at the moment, and everyone is doing their best to find Xion. Did you happen to see her?" Demyx questioned.

Axel and Larxene had only gotten home a few minutes before, but they arrived to absolute chaos. Not everyone was looking for the missing keyblade warrior, but those who were, ran around like headless chickens. Larxene was glad no one had bothered to make any lovebirds jokes.

"Where did they go, exactly?" Larxene replied irritably.

"No one knows. No one except for leader, that is. Apparently he sent her off to hunt down roxas. At a time like this!" Demyx threw his hands in the air and huffed out of the room.

"Wait a minute, didn't Roxas leave the same day as us?" Axel tried to remember.

"Why should I care? I'm just going to get cast as the stupid girl part. It looks like the little runt just gave me a silver lining. No Xion, no play." Larxene smirked.

"Now Larxy, you can't mean that. Besides, who knows where she ended up. What happened to that Larxene I've come to know this last month?" Axel teased.

Larxene glared at the flame haired nobody. Like she had thought before, her personality change was only circumstantial. Now that she was home, she could go back to being as ruthless as she pleased. Of course, it did feel kind of good to do bad for a good cause. Those fangirls deserved what they got.

"oh shut up. That was circumstantial. Now that I'm home, It'll be just like before." Larxene huffed.

"you can't say that trip didn't change you. At least not a little bit. You met your other. That had to do something." Axel noted.

"well, now that we're home, that's all behind us. I suggest you just forget it ever happened." Larxene icily stared at axel.

"but I don't want to forget." Axel smirked. "And I won't. But as you said, that's all behind us. Now, if you don't mind, I have a keyblade miscreant to find."

And with that, the nobody was gone into a dark portal. Larxene sat down on the chair nearby and pulled out a leaf from her pocket. it had come from the forest on the night she and Axel went out on their 'date.' Although she was flabbergasted at the time, Axel seemed…sweet.

"augh! It's the kindness of my other again! I'll be happy if I never hear from it again." Larxene fumed.

And yet, she wasn't so disgusted. In fact, she knew she wouldn't forget either. Setting the leaf in the top drawer, she sat down, musing.

"although….."

"Roxas! To your left!" Riku called.

The blonde nobody swung his keyblade as it made contact with another heartless. One by one, they were falling to the swings and hits from the keyblade warriors. Slowly but surely, their numbers were trickling to smaller clusters.

"Thanks! how can you see through that blindfold?" Roxas replied, attacking another heartless behind Riku's back.

"practice." He stated.

"so, why are you protecting me? weren't you trying to beat me?" Roxas slashed another heartless.

"how'd you hear about that?" Riku took two heartless out with his keyblade.

"through the grapevine." Roxas smirked.

"because. It' would make Namine upset to hear I didn't try to help you. Trust me, it's all for her. If I had my choice, you'd be pretty much gone by now." Riku gave a little laugh.

"nice to know you have my back." Roxas laughed in response. "I take it the girl who came in with you is Namine?"

"that'd be her. You'd better be nice to her if you ever see her." Riku stood up straight to look Roxas in the eye.

"oh trust me, I don't think that'd be hard." Roxas smiled.

Riku twitched a little bit and returned to attacking the heartless. A couple had slipped by them while they were talking. "come on, we're done here. We've got one more job to finish before we can head home. the princess has to be saved."

"what about Ayumu and Naoko?" Roxas called to the warrior who was walking away.

"they'll be fine. King Mickey is protecting them. Now come on. Do you want to see Namine again or not?" Riku kept walking.

Roxas nodded and ran to catch up to the blinded keyblade warrior. They headed straight for the elevator. With no hesitation, Roxas pushed the button that would take them directly to the top floor. It was now or never.

the background music in the elevator was anything but soothing. Namine rocked back and forth, cursing the slow speed of the elevator. She could just conjure up a dark portal, but she had thought of it after she had boarded the infernal thing. But now that she was on it, there was no point of trying to get up faster.

When she finally reached the top floor, Namine bolted out the doors before they had completely opened. She heard the driving pitter-patter of raindrops on the small roof of the small room. Outside of the room, was Kiyotaka and Xion, the girl who was pretending to be something she wasn't.

Namine knew she had to reach them in time. Confidently, she grasped the knob and pushed the door open. Sure enough, two people were standing only a few feet from the door. The rain was coming down in sheets. It was hard to see anything. Within a few seconds, Namine was drenched.

The ominous clouds had darkened from the time Kiyotaka and Xion had reached the roof. Lightning flashed and the thunder boomed. But that didn't deter Namine. She broke into a run. She hoped no ill would come to Xion for impersonating her.

"of course, she did try to dispose of me." Namine thought.

But with the next flash of lightning, those thoughts were tossed from Namine's mind. It was time to set the record straight. She had almost made it when Kiyotaka began to yell and Xion.

"what do you mean, you're not Namine? She told me she would be here! Where is she?" Kiyotaka grabbed Xion's shoulders.

Xion flinched at his grasp. She didn't know where Namine was off to. Several thoughts clouded her mind. Xion wanted to be anywhere but here. Xemnas must not have known of Kiyotaka's plan. Otherwise he wouldn't have sent her here. Or would he?

Both Kiyotaka and Xion looked over when Namine proclaimed "I'm right here!"

Namine quickly ran over to the two, standing to the side of them. She looked fearlessly straight into Kiyotaka's cold eyes. Namine was sure and focused, almost glaring at the man. He stared back, with equal intensity.

"leave her alone. She only did what she was told. No, let's get this over with, shall we?" Namine smirked.

Kiyotaka released his grasp on Xion. She fell to her knees in fear. The rain had already soaked her to the bone, and she was cold. Whatever Kiyotaka had planned, Xion knew it couldn't have a happy ending.

"Xion, leave. Find Roxas and go home." Namine commanded, never taking her eyes off of Kiyotaka.

"no, I-I cant!" Xion called.

"do it. Riku and Roxas will be up here shortly. Go with them." Namine barked.

"but Riku hates me, and the feeling isn't exactly one-sided." Xion argued.

"don't argue! Just go!" Namine turned on her.

Xion dragged herself to the door. She hesitated to reach the handle. By time she was about to twist it, Yuskue caught her. He held her steady. It looked like she was going to stay, regardless or what Namine wished.

Saiix called the organization meeting to an opening. Most members were still talking amongst themselves. No matter what Saiix tried, they still whispered. All were concerned about the play. Larxene looked like she was the only member who was happy at Xion's disappearance. There were some dark circles under her eyes. Axel was the only one who knew where they came from, but no one asked. Larxene had gone back to acting as usual.

"Quiet down now, everyone!" Xemnas roared. "I realize I sent our script writer out on a mission. That is fine. However, I did give her a deadline. We are quickly approaching that deadline, and I must have that script!"

Saiix agreed and addressed the organization. "Now, it's against my better judgment to tell you this, but it deals with that pesky witch of Diz's. If any of you have heard from her, you must come clean. Xion was sent to destroy her, but we have information from the dusks her job is not yet done. She will be greatly punished, that is to be sure. However, we believe she is with Namine for the time being. Find her, and you've found Xion."

"I don't remember any Namine." Marluxia argued.

"I do." Larxene growled. "She interfered when I was trying to kidnap Sora."

"And that's why you're able to remember her. She has made herself forgotten to our very own number 13, but forgot to erase the memories of anyone else. We must teach her for trying mess with our memories." Vexen informed.

"Where do we start looking for her? I'd love to be able to wipe that pretty little smile off her face." Larxene smirked.

"Now Larxene, I'm sure you'd much rather make a soufflé, wouldn't you?" Axel teased.

"Only if you're the main ingredient. Trust me, I have plenty to argue about with you later." Larxene clenched her fist.

"Well, where do we start looking for them?" Zexion nonchalantly joined into the conversation.

"You don't. I will be the only to retrieve the girl. The rest of you stay here. It will not be long. Then you can have your ridiculous play." Xemnas scoffed. He didn't really care about the play anymore, not after all Xion put him through to get it.

With that, he turned and walked into a dark portal. Yes, it'd be finished soon enough.

After an extensive surgery, the doctors walked out the doors and began untying their facemasks. Seeing them come out, the mouse king strode over to them. The heartless could wait for a minute; he had to find out if there was even a heart worth protecting in the next room over.

"Well, how do they look, Doc?" Mickey asked the lead surgeon.

"I'm afraid we've done all we can do. It's all up to them now. Ayumu's body can choose to accept or reject Naoko-chan's vital organs. If he does, he lives. If not…." He tapered off.

Mickey gulped and looked up at the man. "We just have to believe he'll make it through."

That's it, folks! Stay tuned! And review!


	19. watch what happens

Alright, chapter 19! Let's not mince words, that's what the story is for. As Mario would say: "Here we go!"

Riku and Roxas stepped into the growing portal. It would take them to the top floor in an instant. Riku grasped his keyblade as he ran through. He knew it would be dangerous, but Namine was his friend. He wanted to protect her, even if it meant giving up his own life. Though they hadn't known each other long, there was some sort of connection between the two.

They arrived in the downpour. Roxas could barely see, and Riku could neither see nor hear. In a split decision, he tore off his blindfold and opened his sky blue eyes. It had been a while since he had seen the world as it was, with his own eyes. All around him was darkness from the heavy cloud coverage. It was almost as if he hadn't taken off his blindfold.

But on the other side of the roof, Riku could just make out some distinct figures. That had to be where the action was going on. The wind raged and blew Riku's hair to and fro. Riku and Roxas started running to the forms, until they could just make out Namine's thin, white form. She was drenched, but the had a look about her that would not be deterred.

"Namine! What do you think you're doing? I've got this! I sent you away, so this is my consequence!" Xion yelled.

"No! This is my defining moment. You already had yours- and you have it still. Some one's got to keep an eye on Roxas. Who better than memories made from his somebody?" Namine argued. "You have to go."  
Xion could see Namine shaking. She didn't know of it was out of fear or cold, but she closed her mouth and pursed her lips. It seemed like Namine wasn't going to listen anymore. With reluctance, Xion nodded, being held in Yuskue's firm grip. She could see two dark shapes coming towards them, but said nothing.

Kiyotaka waited patiently while Namine directed Yuskue as to where to take Xion. Riku and Roxas weren't coming, so Namine would be here on her own.

"Good" Namine thought. "I don't want them here. They might have tried to stop me."

If everything went according to Kiyotaka's plan, they would both end up in their 'proper places.' No bother if anyone missed them. That was something they'd have to deal with on their own. Kiyotaka was a firm believer in sacrificing the one for the good of the many. This would be a true manifestation of the idea.

With the plan carried out, Ayumu could return to his life before all of this started. Kiyotaka would like Naoko to stay to help his clone after he passed on, but it didn't seem likely. She had been away from her family for quite some time. Maybe she could come back to visit. Well, everything would work out after his death.

"Xion! Namine!" Roxas interrupted.

Namine and Kiyotaka turned to see the two-keyblade warriors running to meet up with the small group already on the roof. Namine certainly hadn't imagined Roxas would ever call out her name again. She was tempted to run and meet up with them, and find herself with Roxas. Or Riku. She didn't know what she'd do when the three of them met up, but it'd be something.

A small gasp escaped namine's mouth as she realized Riku wasn't wearing his usual blindfold. She was shocked to see how his blue eyes burned with desire to reach her. Riku was always there for her. It wouldn't be horrible to say she thought she felt something for him, but nobodies didn't feel. What was the matter with her?

Namine's smile quickly turned into a look of horror when she realized their timing. Now it'd be impossible to get them off the roof before they continued the plan. She definitely didn't want them both there, but she couldn't tear herself away from the idea that maybe they'd come for her.

"No! Get Xion and get out! I don't want you guys hurt!" Namine stood in front of kiyotaka.

"Too bad." Roxas smirked. He was standing next to her now, with Riku on the other side. They each had a glove on her shoulders. "We're going to save both of you, no matter what it takes."

Namine cursed Sora's hero complex.

The warriors were a little out of breath by now. It had been over an hour since this whole dilemma started, and they had been going non-stop. Riku wondered how they were going to end the plan. Roxas wanted to know how Riku was able to keep up with him.

"I'm sorry to break up this cheer-fest, but we really do need to get going. Namine, I do believe you said you would be of assistance." Kiyotaka held out his hand.

Namine gave each warrior a look of reassurance, but there was a melancholy tone about it. Gently pushing their hands off her shoulders, she grabbed kiyotaka's outstretched hand and stepped a bit closer. Riku and Roxas were about to bring her back, when Yuki and Mitzuki grabbed them.

"So, you guys are nobodies too?" Riku scoffed.

"Yeah. If you remember, Roxas, in my introduction, I did say 'the story goes…' that didn't mean it actually applied to me." Yuskue mentioned from behind Xion.

"Enough talk." Yuki snarled, taking Xion from Yuskue. She squeezed her arms tightly, as if Xion was trying to make a run for it.

Mitzuki kept his grip on Riku, and Yuskue now held to Roxas tightly. They were in a triangular pattern with Kiyotaka and Namine staring at each other by the door to the elevator. There was a wire fence atop the small ledge of the building. They were several stories up.

"Let me go!" Riku struggled.

"We have to help Namine!" Roxas squirmed.

"Sorry boys, but rules are rules." Mitzuki grumbled. They kicked and struggled, but to no avail.

The nobodies dragged the three to one side, where Namine would play her final role in Kiyotaka's plan.

Xemnas arrived at the building in the pouring rain. He believed that he would hate the rain if he could. It always ruined his hair and got him wet. With no umbrella, he quickly made his way to the door of the nearby building. This had to be the right one. He'd find whom he was searching for in here.

Lightning flashed behind Xemnas as he opened the door. He looked around. The lobby was empty except for a few white chairs and some doctors milling about. They had the look of death about them, as if they were just waiting for someone to move on.

Xemnas did not wish to speak to these men. They didn't seem to notice him come in. he continued to the right, past the doctors. Everything inside was decorated a white color. There were sparse furnishings in some of the rooms. A piano was even in an empty room. But Xemnas looked past these until he found who he was looking for; a certain mouse king. He would know what Xion meant when she said he had to finish something for a 'Kiyotaka Narumi.'

King Mickey had to step out of the room. The pressure of waiting for the two to wake up was enough to physically affect someone standing there. As he left the room, he took one last glance at the sleeping forms on the table. They were still breathing, thank goodness. But for how much longer?

Mickey couldn't believe who he saw upon leaving the room. It was in fact, Xemnas, leader of organization thirteen. He didn't seem like he was trying to cause trouble, but he was there. Instantly, Mickey called out his keyblade and stood anxiously by the door.

"What are you doing here?" Mickey's brows furrowed.

"My my, little king mouse. My dusks have never told me you were this jumpy. I had only heard great and terrible things about you from those who managed to escape from your fury." Xemnas retorted.

"You won't get to Ayumu or Hiyono's hearts!" Mickey swung his keyblade into ready position.

"Relax my liege." Xemnas began with a little laugh. "My target is to merely call Xion and Roxas home. If I wanted Ayumu to be a nobody, you wouldn't be standing here, protecting him. Now, I assume you know how I might find a Kiyotaka Narumi?"

Ayumu awoke with a large headache. The florescent lights were brighter than he remembered, and they were shining directly in his eyes. He shielded his eyes before trying to sit up. When he eventually got up, something struck him as odd. He was absolutely certain he was dead.

But something had saved him. He wasn't exactly sure where he was, but it had to be in Kiyotaka's care. Rubbing his auburn hair, he took a look around. There were the required medical tools the doctors must have used on him who knows how long ago. The lights were dim and he couldn't make out much more.

He heard a small groan and looked over to his left. Lying on the operation table next to his was Hiyono. So she had saved him, had she? Well, he definitely wanted to make sure to thank her, or something. She began to stir and sat up herself with a little bit of difficulty.

"Hey." Ayumu shakily noted.

"Hey." Hiyono smiled and replied.

"You know, that was a drastic move. But you're apart of me now, Hiyono. Thanks. I owe you one." Ayumu turned toward the girl.

"You don't have any of hiyono in you. There never was a hiyono." Naoko looked into Ayumu's eyes. "Did you suspect it?"

"…. Yes. I just have no other idea what to call you. When you were placed in another cell by my brother, I kind of figured you were working for him, meaning that Hiyono was probably not your real name." Ayumu reasoned.

"I see. Do you want to know?" Naoko sheepishly asked after a minute of silence.

"I guess if you want a proper thanking." Ayumu looked Naoko right in the eyes.

"Naoko." She said, holding out her hand for Ayumu to take it. "I'm sorry I had to trick you. I needed the money to support my siblings in Germany. My father's in the military, so they never have anyone there. When I left, it must have been horrible for them. So I sent them a little something each month. I get to see them when I'm done here."

"I see." Ayumu closed his eyes and looked up to the ceiling.

oooh! Here comes the climax soon! Stay tuned and review!


	20. climax of our story

Whew! Chapter 20. I don't know about you, but my fingers are killing me. I don't own anything, although I wish I did.

Namine shivered. She hoped that Riku and Roxas wouldn't be present for this part of her plan. Kiyotaka couldn't understand her. It seemed no one could. What would be her fate when she failed? Kiyotaka had called her after he talked to she and Roxas the morning they arrived to work out the details. He had to assess her skills to see if she could be of any use. Apparently she could.

Kiyotaka was extremely pleased to hear she could alter memory; he was instantly fascinated. She tried to make it blatantly clear it would only work for people in Sora's heart, but he didn't' seem to hear her. As if that was new. Namine was used to being ignored by then.

The plan was to use Namine's portal to transport Kiyotaka to a place he could die in peace- and alone. He decided Namine could then erase any memory of him, so his loved ones wouldn't worry about him anymore. She was then to be teleported away. If it didn't go as planned, she was to be killed by Yuki, Mitzuki and Yuskue.

However, Kiyotaka didn't realize that Namine had told him of the catch. He wasn't quite listening to her, as she was on speakerphone, and there was a picture of madoka that caught his eye. It was unintentional, but he figured he could plan his way out of it. Ayumu would be out of the way by that point, anyway.

"Kiyotaka-sama. I'm sorry, but I can't do what you want me to. There's a thin condition to my powers." Namine admitted.

Kiyotaka was silent. He looked up to the sky, eyes shut. There was no light in the darkened sky, only the flashes of lightning that occasionally happened by. In the heart of his heart, Kiyotaka knew about namine's restriction. But at the moment, he almost didn't care.

"Namine, come here." Kiyotaka motioned for the girl to come forward.

She hugged herself as she did as she was told. Roxas and Riku tensed, in case they should be required to break free to help Namine. The rain seemed to come down harder, and the wind blew stronger.

"Namine. I simply wish my life were different. Being labeled as a genius from my youth, my title of greatness being thrust upon me… I wished I could have died. But lately, I've had thoughts that it was time for things to fall into place. Like I needed to sacrifice myself for the good of the planet." Kiyotaka stated matter-of-factly.

"I know you cannot do as I ask. Don't worry, however, I ask you help me do one more thing." Kiyotaka noted.

Namine couldn't tell if he was crying through the rain, but there was a lump in her throat, telling her that she had been. Some how, her body was able to make the salty tears that were so…. human. Namine didn't know if she made the tears or how they came to be, but her eyes were leaking salt water, and she didn't question it.

Namine came closer to kiyotaka. He whispered s quiet sentence in her ear. His last request was only to be heard by an unknown nobody. She nodded.

"Save me from myself."

Xemnas arrived to go find Kiyotaka. He wasn't sure if the mouse had been telling the truth about kiyotaka, but Mickey was a good guy. It was against a code or something for him to lie, even if it was to a bad guy. But he'd have to trust the little mouse. He calmly moved to the elevator, and rode up.

In a matter of moments, he was shot up to the top, where he could hear the rain from the outside. Thunder boomed loudly, and the storm only seemed to have worsened since he was outside the building only a little while ago.

In a moment, Xemnas noted the situation. He didn't know the exact reasons why they were set up the way they were, but he almost chuckled at what he saw. This kiyotaka guy was kind of sloppy in his work. He looked at Roxas and Xion, who had taken their eyes off the action to look at him.

"Roxas, Xion. It is time for you to return home."

Riku and the nobodies looked at the leader. Namine was watching Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka was leaning on the wire fence that stood atop the knee-high cement. Xemnas had arrived just after he finished talking with Namine. However, all eyes switched to him when a loud snap filled the air, and the fence began it's decent to the ground, taking him along with it.

"Where do you think everyone is?" Ayumu carefully made his way to the end of the operating table.

Naoko moved at the same pace till they were both at the edge. Their bare legs brushed up against each other. Naoko stopped moving and allowed Ayumu to slip off, a deep crimson color filling her face. She pulled the dark blue hospital gown down.

"Sorry." Naoko managed to say.

Ayumu laughed as he put his arm around Naoko's shoulders. She had more strength than he did, so he needed to lean on her for steadiness. They were both a little uneasy, but eventually they got to the door.

"Let's go to the roof." Ayumu suggested.

"Why do you want to go up there?" Naoko replied.

In truth, Ayumu had no idea why he needed to get up to the roof, but it seemed urgent. Slowly but surely, they made their way to the elevator, where Mickey found them. He tried to convince them not to go, but Ayumu's resolve was much more steady than he was. After a little bit, Mickey brought a wheelchair and pushed the button on the elevator to the roof.

It was raining, which Ayumu had guessed. They were almost instantly soaked, but having seen kiyotaka on the roof made them want to continue. They were so close anyway; it wouldn't take long. Ayumu and Naoko passed a man with silver hair in a black cloak. Ayumu wanted to walk to the edge, so he shakily stood. All of a sudden, they heard the snapping noise, and saw that kiyotaka had fallen off the edge.

"ANIKI!" Ayumu yelled. He collapsed into the wheelchair, grabbing hold of Naoko's hand.

Namine gasped. Time had stopped in a moment. Kiyotaka was falling from a seventy-story building. She had to do something. Anything. She did the first thing that came to mind. Namine jumped off the building. Who knew, maybe Kairi had a hero complex somewhere in her too.

Namine could hear Riku struggling to break free before she jumped. For a moment, Yuskue let go of Roxas to catch Naoko. Both keyblade warriors had made it to the wall and were looking down at the girl. They probably thought she was crazy. And maybe she was. But she did have a plan. She would create a portal that led to the top of the building, right before they hit the ground. The portal had to be rooted on something, or else she'd do it before they hit the concrete.

In a moment, she felt two pairs of warm arms wrapped around her cold wet skin. Riku and Roxas had jumped as well and they weren't going to go back up with out her. Namine didn't know how they managed to catch up with her, but she was grateful. If these were to be her last moments, she was glad to be able to share them with the two guys who meant more to her than life- she thought that she may have loved them.

But there was no time to fathom whether or not she could actually love. Kiyotaka was going to hit the ground faster than they. If she wanted to save him, she'd have to leave the warm embrace she was encircled in.

"Roxas! Make a portal that will take kiyotaka to the roof! It's our only hope. I don't think Namine has any feeling in her arms from the cold." Riku yelled.

"Right!" Roxas agreed. He gave a quick squeeze before letting go and reaching kiyotaka. Roxas made it to kiyotaka's side just before they reached the ground. He made a dark portal and they fell into its depths.

Riku and Namine were still several stories behind. The portal evaporated, and Namine gasped. She dug her face into Riku's wet robe. It was soaked through, but he was warm, and she didn't want to look at the ground when they crashed into it.

Just as they were about to hi the concrete, another portal opened, and they were swallowed up into the blackness. In a second, they found themselves on the roof, Riku grasping on to a very scared Namine. She stayed in his embrace for a few minutes and took deep breaths. Finally, everyone was safe.

Ah, yay! It's good to see everyone isn't a pancake, huh? Hope you liked.


	21. i hate to explain and run, but

Chapter 21! Whoo! I am going to finish this soon, so stick with me a little longer! I don't own. If you don't know that by now, you haven't been paying attention.

Xemnas sighed. He couldn't work like this. With nobodies and humans just throwing themselves off buildings, what was this generation coming to? He quickly disabled Yuki and set Xion free.

"Make a portal to protect Riku and Namine after Roxas gets back. Then I want you home so you can write that script. This is an order." Xemnas quickly stated.

With that, he created his own portal and departed.

"Ayumu" Kiyotaka knelt in front of the wheelchair.

Ayumu opened his eyes to see kiyotaka, Naoko and Yuskue, leaning over him. He heard Roxas and Namine in the background, speaking with two others in black robes. The rain had stopped, and there were patches of blue in the sky. He must have fainted when kiyotaka fell. He had no idea how he could have gotten back up to the roof so quickly, but he didn't care.

"You're alive?" Ayumu swallowed.

"We really are resilient, aren't' we? I guess that's just how my- I mean, our genes work." Kiyotaka chuckled. He started laughing in a deep rumble that floated up to the sky.

Naoko put her hand on Ayumu's shoulder, and he looked into her Carmel eyes. She really was invaluable, even if she wasn't some Hiyono Yuizaki. Ayumu took the whole scene in. sun was breaking through the cloud cover. Naoko was smiling with small teardrops in the corner of her eyes. Kiyotaka was smiling, and everyone seemed well.

"I'm just like you now. There is no more super genius about me. I'm a regular Joe. My, how long I've pined for this day." Kiyotaka paused. "I guess that fall made me normal. I don't know how, maybe it was the trip through the black hole. But in any case, I can go home now. Something I didn't plan for saved me. Go figure."

Ayumu didn't care how it happened. It's not like he was ready to let his brother back into his life, but he could give it a try. Things would definitely go back to normal now. The sun was shining, and a surge of happiness filled ayumu's very being. He was happy to just be alive.

"Thank you, Xion. You saved our lives." Namine nodded her head.

"No problem." Xion replied.

There was an awkward silence between the four. The rain let up and the sun began shining. Even though this really was to be the end, Namine didn't want it to end. She wanted to go back to her life with Roxas. But she also wanted to go back to twilight town with Riku. She wanted to say something when Roxas touched the air and created a black hole.

"Well, we have to get going. Xemnas wanted Xion to write a play for the organization." Roxas hugged Namine.

Namine wanted no more than to tell him that she was supposed to write it, and it was his idea they go away in the first place. But she couldn't. Not after the fact that she had to erase his memories. No doubt she'd have to do so again. It hurt her, but she'd have to.

Before Roxas and Xion could step into the portal, Kiyotaka walked over. "I believe I owe you a script, don't I?"

"You do." Namine smiled.

Yuskue was about to step into his own dark portal. He knew Naoko really did care for Ayumu, in all the time she had been here. He, like the other nobodies, were doomed to fade back into darkness. Besides, its' not like he could feel anything anyway. Maybe it was for the better.

Mitzuki and Yuki joined him. Now that kiyotaka's plan was over, they were useless. They decided to roam the worlds until they could find themselves a home. Perhaps they'd find one. Perhaps they wouldn't. Time would only tell until they could find a place that would accept them.

"Come on, Yuskue." Yuki placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

"Wow, that's the most gentle I think I've ever seen you." Yuskue chuckled.

"I have my moments." She put her nose in the air with a smile on her face.

The three walked through the portal, ready for anything. They were never seen or heard from again, but who's to say that means they never found happiness?

Later, everyone was sitting at Ayumu's table. Kiyotaka mentioned that he'd explain everything, and they should look at the script for Xion and Roxas in the meantime. They sat in a comfortable silence. There wasn't enough room at the table, so Riku stood behind Namine. So did Roxas.

The script was their story-it explained everything that had happened to Roxas and Namine during the past month. There were enough parts for everyone who was left in the organization, although there'd have to be some people playing double roles. It was well written. And it was there.

Madoka had just gotten home when they finished the initial reading of the play. Ayumu welcomed her home, limping over to the front door on his cane. The doctors told him to use it for a few weeks until they could declare him stable. Ayumu hugged his sister in law for a couple minutes.

"What was that for?" Madoka asked when they broke apart.

"Look behind you." Ayumu remained stoic.

"Why would I want to-?" she groaned as she turned around. Madoka gasped. "K-kiyotaka?"

"I'm home." he smiled. They embraced for several minutes and then broke out into a long-missed kiss. She didn't want to break away. After two years of emotional turmoil, her beloved was home. She stayed in his arms as they all moved to the living room.

Namine sat on the three-seater couch, in between Roxas and Riku. Xion leaned on the arm by Roxas. Ayumu and Naoko shared the love seat, and Kiyotaka sat on the single seater. Madoka sat on the arm of it and kept her arm around her husband's shoulders, as if it'd keep him from leaving again.

"Now, let's start at the beginning." Kiyotaka sighed.

"It all started when I met Mitzuki, Yuki and Yuskue. They told me of awakening and all they could remember. It wasn't much, but I was fascinated. Mitzuki had this strange power- he could tell when a 'nobody,' as he said, was around. The day Roxas and Namine arrived, he sensed them and we went to see what you'd do. I was sitting in the park as you met my clone. With this stroke of luck, I decided to call you early in the morning, when I knew only you would pick up." Kiyotaka explained.

"That's when you found out about my powers." Namine added.

"Yes, and Roxas, with his ability to slay the dark beasts." Kiyotaka replied. "So that's when I told you two about my plan. I knew you wouldn't decline, so I planned around that." Kiyotaka continued.

"Then how did you know about the play?" Xion asked.

"I believe roxas or Yuskue mentioned something about it on occasion. What better story than this?" Kiyotaka answered.

All was quiet. Most were thinking about the information they had just received. And then came the question they were all too afraid to ask. It was taboo. No one wanted to utter it. Eventually, Xion gave form to the question.

"So, what happens now?"

"Well, we have to return to the organization." Roxas stood up.

"Oh, you're right. Well, it's been a wild time, eh everyone?" Xion nervously laughed. She quickly said her goodbyes and exited through the portal she conjured up.

"Well, goodbye. It was great meeting everyone. You too, Namine." Roxas' voice softened when he said her name.

Roxas was about to walk through the portal when Namine ran up and hugged Roxas from the back. She never wanted to let go. He paid attention to her. He was sweet and encouraging. Namine just wanted a friend. Now Roxas was leaving. And she'd be all alone again, no doubt. Roxas turned around and let her hug from the front. She searched his eyes for some sort of answer.

"Roxas." Namine stated. She wished she could cry, just like she did on the roof.

"Don't be sad. We can see each other when ever we want." Roxas encouraged

She knew they couldn't. He'd be off on missions, and she would be fixing Sora's memory. Although it was nice to dream, she wanted his sentence to be real. She also wanted to love him, and he her. But that was impossible.

"I'm really glad I got to know you, Namine. Can we be friends?" roxas held out his pinky. "I'll always be there for you."

Namine wanted to tell him about everything they did together, everything she was sure she felt. But then she'd have to erase his memories again, and that would break her. She wouldn't be able to do it again. With some reluctance, she took the pinky in her own.

"It's a promise."

That's it! 21 chapters down! Thanks for sticking with me! sorry if it was longer this time.


	22. Night of the play, night of goodbyes

Ok, I hope this will end soon. It's becoming quite troublesome. But I hope it's been a good story. I know it's a lot to get through, and I appreciate those (if anyone) that have gotten through all of the chapters. Thanks! Remember, I own nothing!

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Riku and Namine were about to leave as well. Namine had felt she had worn out her welcome. Besides, now that the narumi's were a family again, they'd just be intruding. Without another word, Namine created a dark portal to walk through. Naoko heard the portal, because she was standing away from the narumis as well.

"Hiyo-Naoko. Would you mind telling Rio, Ryoko and Kouskue goodbye for me?" Namine mentioned.

"Of course." Naoko smiled.

"Wait, where's Hizumi? I haven't seen him in ages." Namine stopped, remembering the boy with copper eyes and mint green hair.

"A friend of ours, Eyes Rutherford, found him unconscious in the park. They tried to get him to a hospital, but they weren't fast enough. Never mind it'd take too long to find vital tissue that would have worked. He's gone." Kiyotaka turned when he heard Namine asking about Hizumi.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss." Namine apologized.

"No worries. I said my goodbyes a long time ago." Ayumu ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, I'm afraid I must get going." Namine said goodbye to everyone and then joined hands with Riku. They walked together into the darkness.

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for the next few weeks, Ayumu had to keep going back to kiyotaka's doctor, to check for any irregularities in the transplanted tissue. Everything checked out fine. According to the hospital, he was proclaimed healthy. That day, Ayumu walked home with Naoko. She decided to stay with them until the week before Christmas. She really didn't want to leave Ayumu, but there wasn't anything that could keep her from her family any longer than necessary.

Ayumu and Naoko were walking home from the final doctor visit when it began snowing.

"Would you look at that. It's snowing." Naoko gasped.

The many frozen crystals danced to the ground as the gentle wind choreographed their movements. It was a beautiful storm to look at. As the tiny flakes descended, Ayumu and Naoko gazed at the simple beauty.

"Ayumu." Naoko twirled to face her friend. "Tell me something."

He stopped by her. She was excited, he could tell. He didn't really understand why she was, but it seemed reminiscent of the days she was hiyono. Maybe she wasn't used to being her own person again yet. But there she was. The dim light somehow found its way to dance in her eyes as she anticipated his answer.

"What is it?" he replied.

"Tell me, what does the snow turn into when it melts?" Naoko held out her hand, and a snowflake gently landed on her hand.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Water of course. What kind of question is that?"

"Wrong. Snow turns into spring when it melts." Naoko smiled.

Ayumu didn't really understand what she was saying. But of course, as hiyono, she was always very blunt about what she wanted. Unless it came to personal things about her life. But this certainly wouldn't fall under that category. But he liked that about her. She could speak her mind without fear of judgment. Ayumu sometimes wished he could be that strong too.

Naoko loved the way Ayumu always saw things so literally. There was so much of her past he didn't know. It was nice to be able to open up and be honest to him once in a while, even though she was living a lie. She would be heading home to Germany that afternoon, so she wanted to spend some time with him. They had built a connection. Even if she went away, Naoko could feel that bond wouldn't be one to break easy.

But of course, the bond was much stronger than expected. If she allowed herself to believe it, she would have told herself she even loved him.

They walked back to the apartment in silent musings hand in hand.

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It was the night of the play and everything was ready. The majority of the organization played their own parts when called for, but then doubled up when necessary. Demyx winded up with the part of Hizumi, creating a very moving death scene. Larxene pulled off a reluctant Hiyono/Naoko and Axel made a wonderful Ayumu. Larxene knew she'd be busy the next few weeks rigging pranks in each of the rooms of the organization members who made lovebird comments.

Saiix somehow pulled off a kiyotaka, and Xion couldn't play both Namine and herself, so Vexen was nominated to play namine's part. He also joined Larxene in booby-trapping the other's bedrooms. As they had last year, the dusks came, watched somewhat attentively and disappeared into the night.

"Congratulations, everyone! That was a job well done!" Luxord toasted the actors afterward in the living room.

Everyone was celebrating at the after party. It had been a lot of work, and there was not very much use for it, but it was tradition, so they did it. Xemnas congratulated them on their best play yet, and noted how he expected much better the next year. While he did so, Roxas and Xion slipped out of the room to the balcony, to talk.

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"You know, you look a lot better without your blindfold on. Namine commented to Riku.

They were having one of those midnight conversations in Namine's drawing room. Riku had replaced his blindfold and the two were sharing some cookies and freshly made bread. Diz wanted to try baking, so he made some and gave a little to Riku and Namine for a job well done.

"Well, I'm sorry, my friend. I took this off only out of necessity. There's still some darkness I need to take care of before I can be rid of it." Riku confided.

"There's just something about your eyes. They're so expressive, so passionate. Like they're so clear, someone could automatically tell what goals you're trying to reach. You're determined. It's something I like about you." Namine smiled.

Ever since they got back from the mission, Riku spent his free time trying to keep namine's mind off roxas. He was certain Namine was doing better. But he wanted to make sure she wouldn't think about him badly. She had other things to do, places to see and things to draw. There was a world of possibility. But for the moment she just stretched. And yawned.

"Midnight already? I guess we've been at this a lot longer than I thought." Namine smiled as she started to get up.

"Wait." Riku motioned. "I have something for you. Close your eyes."

Namine was a little confused, but complied with what he was asking. Riku grabbed his coat to cover up his black sweat pants and yellow tee shirt. Rethinking quickly, he also grabbed Namine her thin white coat.

"Alright, keep your eyes shut." he gently whispered. "Here we go."

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Roxas and Xion spent the evening in the party, but it was getting late, so they stepped out onto the balcony. Besides, the organization was starting a game of jenga, and who knew where that could lead?

"Xion, you did well." Roxas leaned on the railing and looked into the darkness of the night.

"Thanks." She replied. "You too…"

There wasn't an easy way to say this. After they had gotten home, Xemnas had called Xion into his office where he told her about sora and how his restoration was coming along. It wouldn't be long now.

"Roxas. Xemnas told me about a new plan he'll be starting soon. It involves you. You see, you were never supposed to exist. And Sora's going to wake up soon eventually, so…well, we'll disappear when that happens." Xion turned to face the spiked hair boy.

"Good one, Xion." Roxas didn't even turn to face her. "Now tell me the truth."

"I am! Look at me, roxas. You'll find it's true if you just look into my eyes." Xion pleaded.

Without moving roxas closed his own eyes and put his head down. "I know. I know about everything. Namine's got something to do with it, hasn't she? Do you know when you'll be disappearing?" Roxas let out a breath.

"Yes. I have to go tomorrow. But before I do, I want to say thank you. You've given me a home I know I can come back to." Xion kissed the top of Roxas' head before exiting. She glanced back one more time before reaching the door. Roxas hadn't moved.

When he was alone, Roxas sighed. He hated it. The organization. Everything. It was so binding. He just wanted to live a regular life. To be like Sora. Real. He never saw the resemblance. He was too dark, too full of hate. How could someone like Sora even exist? Surely there was no one that good. At least he hadn't met anyone like that. Now it didn't look like he ever would. With a sigh, he returned to his quarters to turn in for the night.

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That's about it for chapter 23, folks! Review!


	23. New Beginnings?

All right, time for chapter 24! I own nothing (except the three characters I came up with and Naoko's family), and would gladly take any donations! (Jk. Enjoy the story though, free of charge.)

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It had only been a week since she'd been gone. A whole week. Still, she couldn't get Ayumu out of her mind. Naoko was overjoyed to see her father and siblings again after the painstakingly long time they had last been together, but something was missing. She had to see Ayumu again. He might not have had long to live. He might not have had the best of attitudes. But he was whom she'd chosen.

So, she talked to her sister about it. One could say her sister was the mirror image of Hiyono. Bright and plucky, Sakura was always ready with a smile for Naoko. Naoko didn't like to reveal many of her problems to her fifteen-year-old sister, but they loved spending time together, and it was either Sakura or her brother. And that wasn't going to happen. He wasn't old enough for a girlfriend yet.

"So, you think you love this guy?" Sakura brushed out Naoko's long, silken hair.

"Yes. I really think I do. But I can't go back. I really missed you guys while you were gone. I had no idea if you were even safe." Naoko replied.

"Kiyotaka-san wouldn't have hurt us. He set up a nice house for me while we waited for you to get done with the Hiyono job." Sakura put the brush down.

"Wait, 'me'? For how long?" Naoko turned around.

"The last month or so. Dad was stationed in Germany, and I was the only one who wanted to see you. So I asked kiyotaka-san for a favor." Sakura leaned over Naoko's shoulder.

"I never saw you." Naoko realized.

"But I saw you." Sakura smiled and sat up. "That was enough."

"But what if I _wanted_ to see you?"

"You couldn't. Kiyotaka-san's orders. He said you might lose focus." Sakura picked the brush up and began brushing her own hair.

"Well, I'm here to stay now." Naoko closed her eyes.

"You love him." Sakura stood up and walked to the mirror.

"What?"

"I said, you. Love. Him. So, for Christmas, we're all going back to Japan. I thought you might like it, so I already reserved tickets. You are going to tell him how you feel and move on with your life. You're already 20, for pete's sake. It's about time you moved out anyway." Sakura looked her sister straight in the eyes.

Naoko was flabbergasted. She'd never seen sakura act this way. Her sister was always a hopeless romantic, sure, but to go this far? She couldn't argue though. Sakura wouldn't take no for an answer, and she had a point. Still, she had just gotten home. Now they wanted to send her back. Naoko remained silent, but a smile played on her lips. The idea intrigued her.

"I take it that's a yes?" Sakura beamed, her short amber hair shining in the light. Like Naoko, she had inherited their mother's auburn hair instead of their father's black hair.

"We'll see." Naoko smiled back.

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Riku hated telling Namine the bad news. He didn't want to see her cry or react negatively to what he had to say. But Diz told him to, so he was obliged. Namine had been doing quite well on the subject of Roxas of late, but he didn't know how much she was keeping inside.

They stood together on the highest balcony in the old mansion. Snow littered the ground, and the night sky was sharp and clear. Each star looked like a beam of light in a sea of darkness. It gave Namine comfort Riku chills. Even thought he replaced the blindfold and could no longer see the dim night sky, he could some how feel it.

Riku took namine's hand and intertwined his fingers in hers. He gave a little squeeze, and Namine laughed. She still didn't know what they were doing out in the cold, but she was grateful he had grabbed her white coat. She would have frozen to death in her white tank top and pink sweat pants.

"What are you thinking about? You look rather perplexed, Riku." Namine placed a hand on his shoulder.

With a sigh, Riku turned to face her. He could feel her piercing gaze at him. She wouldn't be worried- not yet. As far as she knew, everything was just fine. A little disheartening, but fine. After a few seconds of silence, he let it out.

"How to put this, I guess. So, I'm going to get it over with. I'll make you a deal, ok?" Riku gave her hand a squeeze.

"Ok." Namine chuckled. "It'll be fine, Riku. I can take it."

"You know how much you like to look at my eyes?" Riku grabbed namine's hand from off his shoulder and took it in his own.

"Yeah…" Namine tapered off questioningly.

"Well, I promise I'll let you draw them if you can do this for me." Riku grasped her hands a little tighter.

"Really? That'd be fantastic! I wish my eyes could be like yours- passionate and clear. Anyone can tell what you care deeply for by the way they change." Namine brought her hands out of riku's grasp and gasped. "What do you need me to do?"

Riku leaned on the snowy rail. He didn't mind so much that there was already snow there, or that it was cold and wet. In fact, with the sharpness of the stinging cold, Riku was able to keep himself focused on the task at hand.

"You're aware Sora's going to wake up soon, right?" Riku stared out to nothingness.

"Yes. I almost have his memories finished." Namine leaned on the rail too, her shoulder touching his.

"Well, Diz needs you to put Xion back into Sora. I know you're ok with that, but there's something else. You need to erase Roxas's memory. You need to erase everything this time. The whole enchilada." Riku finished.

Namine stood there a minute, silently thinking. "I'll do it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Xion was gone. Roxas would never see her again. However, his memory of her seemed to be dimming by the hour. He could pick out a face, a joke or two, and experiences every once in a while, but they were getting fuzzy. And then they came.

Riku and Namine stood at Roxas's door. In the flesh. And without calling first.

"Namine! It's really good to see you!" Roxas stood up.

The nobody stood in silence, never changing the blank look on her face. If she tried to show any emotion; any at all, she would probably burst into tears. She blamed Kairi for being so close to Sora.

"Roxas, it's time you come with us." Riku called his keyblade.

"Why?" he asked, calling his own.

"Roxas, just do it, please. If you don't come peacefully, Riku has orders to hurt you. I don't want to see that happen." Namine explained.

Slowly, they both lowered their weapons, as Namine stepped back from between them. Within a couple of seconds, Roxas put his keyblade away and stood straight up. With a face as blank as Namine, he complied. Riku shrugged at Namine and led him to the dark portal she had created.

Diz saw Roxas to the machine in the basement of the haunted house in twilight town. Namine had just put the finishing touches on his fake memories and had refused to say farewell. She had already wiped herself from his heart once, she didn't know if she could bear to face the harsh reality of it again. But she made sure she would see him again. With the push of a button, he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alright, how'd you all like it? I hope sometime that someone will begin reviewing again. I really want to see that this wasn't a waste of time. thanks guys!


	24. changes

Chapter 25! Well, we're almost done here, folks. A few more chapters, just hold on. I would have gotten it done sooner, but my schedule got so clogged up. Just like that time during Christmas break. But, I'd rather not talk about it.

So, I own nothing, let's get going!

"Merry Christmas, Ayumu!" Madoka smiled and shoved a small box at her brother in law.

The Narumi's were having a small Christmas party, and it took all of Kiyotaka's energy just to get Ayumu out of his room. Ever since Naoko left, he had been acting a bit….off. He still went to school, fine, did his homework and began playing on the piano again. But something was still wrong.

Everyone was at the Narumi Christmas party. Rio, Ryoko, Kouske. Even Eyes Rutherford had made it out to the event. But there was just something missing, a spark, or something like that. Christmas music was playing in the background, and the sound mingled in the air with that of light talk.

Ayumu stared absentmindedly from the package to the party. It was kind of similar if you thought hard enough. They were both gifts from someone, only sent to distract from present cares. And they were both deeply missing something.

Although he hated to admit it, Ayumu just couldn't work like regular if Hiyo- no Naoko wasn't harping in his ears. He missed the way she'd always be there, even if he didn't want her to be. He wanted to hear her encourage him on, and sing that silly song of hers. He wondered what the real Naoko was like, or if he got what he saw.

"Hey, it's great to see that everything worked out for you, man." Kouske patted Ayumu on the back. "I guess you got everything you wanted."

Ayumu nodded, and Kouske left his side, to return to Ryoko, his girlfriend. They had finally gotten together, thanks to the work of Eyes and Rio. Ironically enough, that very venture had been the thing to bring the two of _them_ together. So maybe that's why Ayumu was having such a hard time enjoying the party.

Ayumu was about to return to his room when the doorbell rang. It didn't seem as if anyone else had heard it, so Ayumu placed down his punch and stood to answer the call. When he opened the door, he saw a girl about 15 with short auburn hair and a giant grin on her face.

"I told you we had the right number!" she smiled and waved at someone nearby.

"Excuse me?" Ayumu jerked back.

Within a few seconds, Ayumu suddenly understood everything. Standing beside the plaid-coated girl was none other than Naoko. She had her hair hanging loosely with a smile on her face. It almost matched that of the girl standing beside her.

"I'm sorry, Ayumu-kun. You see, Sakura dragged me here, and well, ta-da…" her voice grew softer at the end.

"No, it's fine. Come on in." He nodded.

Sakura ran right in and gave Kiyotaka a hug and Madoka a handshake. Naoko and Ayumu stood at the door, watching the scene. It was as if what they were seeing was a part of some hallmark Christmas special, and they, mere viewers on this happy scene. The night was dark, but the air was crisp and the stars shone bright. Ayumu looked at Naoko.

There was a long moment before anyone said anything.

"Do you want to come in?" Ayumu finally broke the silence.

"That's a world where I don't belong." Naoko replied curtly.

"What a coincidence." Ayumu looked straight at Naoko. "It's one I don't belong in either."

She smiled and waited for Ayumu to grab his shoes and coat. No one seemed to notice Ayumu's absence, but no one seemed to mind, either. Everything was in order.

Namine sat on her bed. No doubt everything was falling into place. Today was Riku's last day before he rendezvoused looking for King Mickey. They had just received word about the meeting spot, and Riku would go. Just like that. Namine knew he'd be gone for quite a long time.

She sighed. There was little solace in her thoughts. Namine was almost too happy to do some menial memory task for Diz today. It was all pretty much already in place. There were just a few places she would need to patch up. Namine looked at all the memories in her hands, how they sparkled. Childhood joys she could never share in. friendship, hurt, true joy. There was nothing like that meant for nobodies.

Riku walked ever so silently into the room, crashing her train of thoughts.

"hey." He said. He was wearing the traditional hood and cloak of an organization member, with the hood completely on, shielding his face. Ansem must have been bothering him again.

"hey." She absentmindedly replied. She sat on the bed in front of her. It was the only then that she noticed that Riku smelled differently. There was no memory of warm beaches and the ocean clinging on to his clothes, or any other exotic scents that came from all the different worlds.

Namine looked at his face. Or what his face should have been.

"What happened?"

"It's nothing to worry about. Diz says there's one more memory you need to erase from Roxas." Riku mentioned, grabbing Namine's hands in his.

The shape wasn't right. Riku's hands were rough, but warm. These hands felt cold and distant through the black gloves that enveloped them. Namine tried to shy away, but Riku held his grip firm.

"Is that all?" Namine swallowed. Something happened, and he wasn't telling her about it.

Riku nodded. He released her hands, and she began to work on Roxas' memories. While she worked, her thoughts were filled by Riku's presence. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. She wanted to be able to confront him about it, like she knew he would. After she was finished, Namine paused. She looked up at Riku and reached for his face.

Riku flinched, arranging himself differently on the bed, in a stiff, uptight position. He held his hands on his knees, hood still covering his face.

"Tell me Riku, please. I want to know." Namine sighed.

Riku sat, unmoving. After a few minutes, he loosened up and started to move his hands slowly, ever so slowly, up to his hood. He kept his hand on his hood for a moment and sighed. Namine placed her hand atop one of his and smiled. Surely they could go through anything, so long as they were together. With a sudden jerk, he tore off the hood, revealing a face Namine could not name.

"Riku…." She breathed.

"I'm so sorry, Nam." He still sounded like Riku. "I succumbed to darkness. I needed to finish off a fight with Roxas. I wasn't strong enough. He wanted to know about himself and attacked. I would have lost too, if I didn't tap into the darkness. I'm so sorry." Riku's voice died off.

With out a word, Namine felt the warrior's face. He looked so different with dark gold eyes and olive skin. She missed the shape of his lips and the luster in his eyes. His silver hair trailed to his shoulders, and he looked absolutely repentant.

She fell into his embrace. "Don't worry, it'll be alright." Namine whispered. "You're still you."


	25. goodbyes don't have to hurt

Hey guys! Final chapter! Wow, 26th chapter. Officially the longest story. Thanks for sticking with me! Enjoy, I own nothing!

Snow was falling to the ground. Ayumu and Naoko were walking around the city aimlessly on the empty night of Christmas. The world seemed to go silent in the park. They made their way to a nearby park, where Naoko took a seat on the swing set and began to pump her legs.

A blush ran over her flushed cheek, as Ayumu joined her on the swing set, gently pushing himself back and forth, never allowing his feet to leave the ground. Here she was, a twenty year old woman playing on the swing set with a 17 year old. What had happened to her life?

And yet, everything felt completely right.

"Ayumu kun. It's good to see you again." Naoko began.

She wasn't good with small talk. She knew he wasn't either, so who knew how long this conversation would last. It was all Sakura's idea to come out to Japan. Naoko grumbled in her head. She didn't even know if Ayumu felt the same way or if he'd even last that long.

"Let's cut to the chase. You love me." Ayumu began.

Naoko immediately stopped pushing her legs to look at the boy. So it was true and he figured it out. She had expected he would have mentioned it much sooner, since he probably knew about it much sooner. She didn't voice any of her thoughts and let him continue talking.

Ayumu ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know why you're making me do this, Naoko. You and I both know I'm not good with this kind of stuff." Ayumu sighed.

"I know. Sakura planned this whole trip in hopes that you and I would have a fairy tale ending." Naoko replied, never taking her eyes off the boy. Her swing had slowed significantly, to the point where her shoes only touched earth.

"Did it work?" Ayumu asked.

"I don't know." Naoko paused. "You tell me."

A long pause filled the air, and cold wind blew all around them. Neither seemed to mind, let alone notice. They were too busy staring at each other, trying to search the other for the answers they were praying for. Finally, he spoke.

"Will you sing for me?"

Riku had gone and Namine was sitting in her drawing room, awaiting everything and nothing. She had just erased Riku's memories of what he had done in the last few weeks. Diz said she needed to be forgotten all together. Now that her job was done, why shouldn't she?

The sunlight was drizzling in after the afternoon shower that day, and the beams were hot and comforting. Namine had a strange surge of hope that soon, she would be able to live a normal life. She could take the fact that almost everyone forgot who she was. She had hope that some day, they'd meet again. In fact, she knew it. Some how, some way, she just knew she'd see both Riku and Roxas again. She might not recognize him, but she'd see him.

A bird took off from its branch on a tree nearby. Just like the bird, she'd soar. She didn't know how or when, but it was coming. And with that, she stood and left the drawing room, her everlasting prison.

Ayumu and Naoko returned to the Narumi apartment to find their friends and family anxiously awaiting their return. They smiled as the two walked in, hand in hand. There were no questions asked, no comments made. The party returned to its happy murmur with two new additions. They didn't need to advertise what had just happened, everyone already knew.

Even if Naoko had 70 years or just seven days, she knew she'd always stay with Ayumu. It had been a crazy last few years, but in the end, all the tears, all the strife and all the lies were worth it. She had found her prince charming, and she wasn't about to let go anytime soon.

Sure, she had dreams too. But with each new moment, different ones came into her head. Nothing was set in stone. Ayumu and Naoko looked into each other's eyes and instantly knew what the other was thinking. Tomorrow could wait. Anything they had to deal with could wait. Now, this very second was what life is truly all about.

Sora woke up in a blur.

"Where am I?" he thought. A picture of a blonde boy filled his mind. in a moment, he disappeared.

"That was weird." Sora voiced as he jumped down from the white pod and stretched, ready to begin his adventure anew.

Dawn was breaking and it was a beautiful day outside, probably one of the most beautiful Sora had seen in quite a while. The two nobodies known as Roxas and Namine smiled as they disappeared into the light, awaiting the time they would meet again as Sora and Kairi. They didn't need a paupu to know they'd always be with each other, no matter what. The day was warm, and Sora set out with a smile. The world was truly vast and wonderful.

Well, that's it! I hope you guys liked it! Sorry those asterisks didn't really show up, but ah well. After who knows how long, it's done. Isn't it great? Don't forget to review! Thank you for reading!


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